Daggerwood Games and USA Import Tariffs

An overseer keeping an eye on paperwork - slamming import tariffs on unsuspecting publishers.

As you may be aware, recent developments in global trade have introduced significant changes that are affecting the tabletop gaming industry. The U.S. president's announcement of new tariffs on imports from numerous countries, including China, has created considerable uncertainty and disruption for publishers, especially smaller publishing houses like us at Daggerwood Games.

The Impact on Our Operations

We're going to be pretty transparent here so that we can keep you all in the loop too. Here's some hard facts about how this will likely impact Daggerwood Games and our products.

• Tariff Costs: As an importer, we face additional costs when bringing our products into the United States. Especially because our printing partners are based in China. These tariffs apply to the production cost of our games, which means that even if we've already covered production expenses abroad, we still incur new and potentially substantial costs upon importation. As we print in China currently, we'll be incurring the largest of the tariffs at a whopping 54% tax on production costs as we freight our stock into the USA to our US-based warehouse and fulfillment partners.

This inevitably leads to one of the two following options:

• Us absorbing the additional costs and not passing them through to our customers.

  As you may or may not know, sales margins in the TTRPG industry are very narrow (and would be non-existent if printed in the USA, hence the need for China manufacturing). Simply absorbing such a massive tariff is simply impossible for small publishing houses like Daggerwood Games, if we want to keep the lights on and the doors open for business.
  

• Increased final prices on our physical books and card/accessories for our customers. We also do not want to place all of the additional cost onto our customers, it's simply not how we want to foster community within our hobby.

The best option that we are currently weighing up is to split costs between absorbing them as a publisher and passing on a portion to the final prices of the products. What that split will be is yet to be determined, but we'll always aim to keep the prices as low as feasibly possible. You have our word on that.

Current Projects impacted

Currently only one of our projects is impacted. The Planar Codex. But it's the exact worst timing for it as we just approved the 1000 book and 250 card deck print runs to start only a week before the tariffs dropped on us. This kicker here is that our Kickstarter backers for this project paid for their products and shipping well in advance of all of this, so the tariffs were not covered in original estimations and charges. And I say clearly here:

We will NOT be asking for any more money from The Planar Codex backers to cover these sudden tariffs.

If you're a backer, you've given us your support and placed your trust in us, and we will not betray that promise to deliver as originally intended.

Potential Delays

The changing trade environment may require us to explore new manufacturing locations and supply chains in the future. This could lead to delays in the production and release of some future Kickstarters and the restocking of existing physical products once our stock runs low as we navigate these changes. Right now, we have enough stock on hand to ensure this is not an immediate problem.

Transparency and Adaptation

We value transparency and open communication with our community. The situation remains fluid, with tariffs potentially being adjusted or special exemptions being considered for books and board games (fingers crossed). We will closely monitor these developments and remain flexible in our strategies.

Collaboration and Support

We are working closely with our peers in the tabletop gaming industry to share ideas and strategies for navigating this challenging time. Your support is invaluable as we strive to adapt and continue delivering immersive gaming experiences.

Thank you for your understanding and continued support during this period. We will keep you updated on any significant changes and appreciate your patience as we work through these complexities.

Your Next Great Adventure Starts Here

At Daggerwood Games, we remain committed to crafting innovative stories and experiences for players of all levels. Despite the current challenges, we are dedicated to empowering you to create worlds, forge legends, and embrace the magic of play.

Stay tuned for updates, and let's navigate this journey together!