Custom insert
Commission a Custom Insert
Want an insert made just for your game? Get a ballpark fee, then request your quote. Most commission fees run $100 to $400, plus the insert itself at a discounted rate.
Estimate your fee
Four quick questions for a ballpark before you request a quote.
Estimate your fee
Answer four quick questions for a ballpark before you request a quote.
What the game sells for new.
On the game's BoardGameGeek page, open Stats. It's the Wishlist number.
Small: a few cards or tiles. Large: a box of new components.
Estimated commission fee
Plus the insert itself, at a discounted rate. Your quote is final once I've looked at the game's components and any features you ask for.
I've copied your game and expansions into your quote request.
Request your quote
Tell me about your game and I'll email you a quote. The $10 comes off your total if you go ahead, and you get it back if I can't quote it.
Each feature can add design time, which shows up in your quote.
One request per game, please.
How it works
- Send your request. Fill in the quote request form and check out. That's the $10.
- Get your quote. I look at your game, everything you want it to hold and any features you asked for, then email you a quote.
- Say yes. To get started you pay the cost of the game plus half of the rest of the commission fee. I buy a brand new copy of the game, plus the expansions you want it to fit, and start designing.
- Get your insert. When it's finished you pay the rest of the commission fee and the price of the insert itself, and it ships to you. You're the first person to get it, and it won't show up in the shop until at least a week after you receive yours.
How your quote is priced
Every game is different, so there's no flat price. Your quote has two parts: a one-time commission fee, which covers the design work and the copy of the game I buy, and the insert itself at a discounted rate.
The commission fee comes down to three things.
1. How long the design takes. This is the biggest part. Every insert gets measured, modeled, test fit and refined until the lid closes flat. Things that add time:
- Box size. A small card game is quick. A big box is not.
- How many different kinds of components there are: cards in several sizes, tokens, minis, dice, boards and odd shapes.
- Card sleeves, especially when you want a separate sleeved version or thicker premium sleeves.
- Every expansion you want it to fit.
- Features you request, like removable card trays, player trays, lids or room for upgraded components.
2. The game itself. To get the fit right I design around the real components, so I buy a brand new copy of the game and every expansion the insert needs to hold. I keep that copy so I can fix things later, add support for new expansions and photograph the finished insert. A $20 card game and a $150 big box are very different costs, so this part of your quote is based on what the game actually costs me.
3. How many other people are likely to want it. Once your insert is done, it joins the shop for everyone. When a game is popular, future sales help cover my design time, so I pass a big part of that on to you as a discount. I gauge this from how many people have the game on their BoardGameGeek wishlist and how new the game is. Popular newer games get the biggest discount, sometimes down to the minimum commission fee of $40. For a niche or hard-to-find game, you cover more of the real cost, because it may never sell to anyone else.
The insert is yours at a discounted rate, below what everyone else pays once it's in the shop.
To give you a feel for it, most commission fees run $100 to $400, plus the insert. A small, popular game can come in under $100, while a big box with expansions and a small following can top $600. You'll see the full breakdown in your quote before you pay anything more.
About the $10
- Full refund if I can't quote it. That includes when your game is already on my list to make, when I can't get a copy of the game, or when it just isn't a good fit for an insert.
- Nonrefundable once you have your quote. If you decide not to go ahead, the $10 covers the time it took to work out your quote. Quotes are good for 14 days.
- If you go ahead, the $10 comes off your total.
Good to know
- I keep the rights to the design and may sell it in the shop afterward. Your commission is what brings it to life, and you get the very first one, a week ahead of anyone else.
- Most commissions take 2 to 4 weeks.
- Sleeved designs fit single sleeves up to 60 microns unless we agree on something else.
- I only take a few commissions each month. If this shows sold out, check back next month or request your game for free. Requests help me decide what to make next.
- Before you request, search the shop to make sure your game isn't already here.