Hello, How much does it cost to actually manufacture a CD? Say a company wants to promote and distribute the game itself, to keep the cost down, what would need to be spent to manufacture the cd in limited quantities? Thanks in advance for any help.

Well depending on how many sales you expect, you will have to decide between preproducing your CDs and having an inventory, or using the burn-on-demand method whereby your CD is produced everytime an order is placed. This latter option will cost you about $4-5 per copy. If you decide to bulk order the CDs, the minimum order size will be no less than 500 copies at about 1.75 a piece (depending on your fulfillment company).

Alexander McAndrew
pcgamesforyou.com, LLC
http://www.pcgamesforyou.com

Why on earth would anyone pay $4-$5 for a burn-on-demand service??? If your volume is low, it would make more sense to just pump these out at home... get yourself a stack of practically free OfficeMax CD-Rs and burn away... then slap a nice inkjet-printed color label on there. Total cost $0.75??? There are also new burners on the market which can print to the CD-ROM substrate, so no labeling necessary (no idea on quality here).

Then, when your volume gets so high that this is not a realistic endeavor, swich to a 3rd party mass-producer. Seems like a no-brainer here.

Some numbers for a small test run we did. This is EURO (roughly similar to USD at that time (two months in the past).

3000 CD''s.
DVD casing for them
4 color print on the CD''s, including films
4 color print cover for the DVD casing
8 page booklet, 4 color outside, b/w inside, including films
Serial Number imprint on the booklet

Around 3000 EUR :-)

Regards

Thomas Tomiczek
THONA Consulting Ltd.
(Microsoft MVP C#/.NET)

Thank you all for your replies, I will now begin shopping for a manufacturer!

CG

Wow, sounds like you got quite the bargain, thona! Who did you use? And were you satisfied with the end product? I would have thought that all of those features would cost a bundle more than $1 per unit.

Look around on google, and you''ll find a ton of CD mastering/duplication services. I was able to find quite a few that would print CDs, labels, manuals, and assemble in a jewel case for $1-2 per CD, depending how carried away I got. I don''t remember any names, and prices have probably changed since then anyway, so you''ll have to do your own research.

One problem is that you need to order a lot of CDs to get a good deal...there''s no way you''ll ever get $1 per CD for an order of 100, for example.

Another problem is that there are often a LOT of setup fees. Most of the places seemed pretty upfront about the fees, but make sure their bid includes EVERYTHING before signing any contracts.

Excellent, thank you all for your replies!

CG