Understanding MOQs

MOQ stands for minimum order quantity, the smallest print run a manufacturer will accept. For traditional offset board game manufacturing, MOQs typically sit between 1000 and 3000 units, with 1500 to 2000 being common. Some factories will quote 500 units, but the per-unit price is usually so high that it rarely makes financial sense.

MOQs exist because of setup costs. Printing plates, die-cutting tools, assembly line configuration, and quality checks cost roughly the same whether you print 500 games or 5000. Below the MOQ, those fixed costs make each unit so expensive that the factory knows the job is not worth doing for either party. The same logic is why per-unit price keeps falling well past the minimum: the setup cost is spread across more copies.

If you cannot commit to 1000 or more units, you have real alternatives. Print-on-demand services (The Game Crafter, DriveThruCards, and similar) will make single copies at a much higher per-unit cost with no minimum, which is ideal for prototypes, review copies, and testing market demand. Some smaller digital-print manufacturers offer short runs of 100 to 500 units at prices between print-on-demand and offset. Crowdfunding also exists partly to solve this exact problem, aggregating enough pre-orders to clear an MOQ before you commit money.

Also watch per-component minimums. A factory might accept your 1500-unit game but require a minimum on a custom component, like 5000 custom dice, forcing you to buy more of one part than you need. Ask about component minimums during quoting, not after.