US Tracking Numbers. Issues? Email Us. Holiday Photo Contest.
over 4 years ago – Sun, Dec 08, 2019 at 01:14:56 AM

US Tracking Numbers

In one furiously busy week our DC received, packed and shipped nearly 800 US orders! That is amazing speed, we are so glad to have pros packing your games. 

Once the games are received by the mail service, a Tracking Number is generated for you via BackerKit. If you received a Tracking Number email, your game is on its way.  More games are shipping on Monday. So, if you have not received your email yet, check your Spam Filter and give us a few more days. They are all headed to the mail carrier...

Issues? Email Us. 

We rely on a lot of partners to get you your game, like many mail carriers. 

And sometimes games are packed, counted or handled incorrectly; 

We want shipping to care about your game as much as we do, but we know issues occur. If you have questions or feedback, please email me at [email protected]. Now that the bulk of games are in the mail, we are catching up to questions this week. 

If your package arrives damaged, always take a picture of the package BEFORE YOU OPEN IT. We will ask for the picture to submit a claim to our postal carriers.

Holiday Photo Contest

Now, lets have some fun again! Lots of backers have opened their games, and quite a few are waiting to open that shrink wrap for the holidays. With holiday cheer in mind, how about a Holiday Photo Contest?

We want to see your Fickle Holiday fun. To enter, join this Facebook Event, then post a picture of your "Fickle Holiday" before December 29th. Our team will choose a photo to share as our holiday update. The selected photo will also receive a free Fickle play mat as our thank you gift!

http://bit.ly/FickleHolidayPhotoContest

Get your wings, nog, candles, wands and board game ready and wow us with your Fickle Family Photo!

Contest Legalese

Shipping this week. Handcrafted. Thank you Luigi! The Final Countdown
over 4 years ago – Mon, Dec 02, 2019 at 12:18:27 AM

Shipping This Week

Games, play mats and sleeves have all arrived at our DC! Tomorrow begins the receiving, packing and shipping for US orders. 

Handcrafted

Each Direction Coin add-on is a hand crafted bonus work of art. Hand poured, shaped and sanded, you will see each is as unique as the fairies that inspired them. These little beauties take time to make, so our local artist has been up late with the elves finishing the final coins. The last batch is due on Tuesday, so orders with coins will begin after base orders (and all orders ship this week). 

Thank you Luigi!

We received a wonderful update from Luigi, a Canadian backer who recently received their game. Making games (and running a Kickstarter) is a lot of work, but  moments like this make it worth it. We hope you feel the same way too! 

"... I invited my family over the weekend and we played [Fickle] every night for 2 hours and it was exciting and close, and so much fun. My family loves the game and my extended family all wants to buy a copy. We are thoroughly enjoying it. The sleeves fit perfectly and are gorgeous, and of course keeps oily chip fingers from ruining the cards. The bag and mat, and even crown which everyone had to wear, are all top notch quality. I'm part of a game board community here and cant wait to show everyone my new gem of a game! Ty Bard Games, and the integrity you have shown throughout the campaign." -Luigi

The Final Countdown

Here is the anticipated shipping schedule;

• Games and accessories received in inventory- Tomorrow
• Forward cases to Retail backers- Tomorrow
• Pull and pack individual orders- This week
• All US orders shipped- Through next week

I will post next update when all orders are out the door!

Domestic Shipping begins this week. Retailers first! International Customs. BGGCon Photos.
over 4 years ago – Wed, Nov 27, 2019 at 01:09:47 AM

Domestic Shipping Begins Tomorrow

Fickle have arrived in the US! Catching all these fairies has been a trick!

 Here is the updated time table for domestic fulfillment:

• 6 pallets of Fickle arrive in Watsonville, CA Distribution Center (Tomorrow)
• US Thanksgiving Holiday Weekend
• DC receives and prepares all games, play mats, etc (2-3 days)
• DC prepares packaging and groups like orders for packing (2 days)
• 986 orders processed and shipped (approx 10 days)
• Shipping time (2-7 days depending on US mail zone)

Backers will receive an email notification and tracking number once the order is placed into the mail. 

Retailers First!

If you are one of our 20 retail stores, our plan is to send your orders first. We know you are counting on Holiday sales and need to time to receive and stock Fickle. Don't forget to email your Amy Brown fans to let them know presents are coming!

International Customs

International orders are nearly complete. We are proud to share Fickle with a World of fun loving gamers!

You may have heard some orders required additional Customs, taxes or regional fees. Country driven fees in addition to the shipping and taxes we have already collected and paid are a messy, 'un-fun' step in international fulfillment. Each nation, customs official and region has policies and fees we simply cannot control.

As an example; some provinces in Canada add regional taxes or fees at customs, while other Canadian Backers (like our Art Director) have already received their games without any additional fees. There are reasons for the varying fees, customs enforcement and regional practices within each county too numerous for me to explain (or comprehend). However, here is what we did to reduce the risk of unforseen International fees; 

• We fulfilled International Orders from Hong Kong. This avoided additional US fees for our international backers. 
• Hong Kong fulfillment also leverages the British Mail system, an advantage for numerous countries
• We used a consistent pricing and reporting system via BackerKit to ensure product value is accurate (to avoid customs delays)
• We integrated our shipping through EasyShip-HK to maintain accuracy through shipping and customs reporting. 

Ultimately, the chain between manufacturing - fulfillment center - Customs - Carrier - Backer is not easy to predict, and may even feel capricious.  If you have questions about your customs or regional fees, email me at [email protected] and I will do my best to confirm your order and resulting duties were accurate. 

BGGCon Photos

On a lighter note, we want to share the amazing debut of Fickle at the BoardGameGeek Convention in Dallas, Texas. BARD Games was at this 3000+ attendee convention to announce the BARD Games line-up.

I was so pleased with the warm reception for Fickle from the BGG crowd. This convention is attended by a well-informed gaming crowd. So, it was wonderful to have many attendees play Fickle in the New Games Library, then come to the booth to get their copy! I let the BGG crowd know your backing made this possible, and they should be excited to get their hands on such a beautiful game, thanks to you! 

Watch for an update late next week to chronicle more shipping!

163 and Counting. Customers First. Visit us at BGGCon
over 4 years ago – Wed, Nov 20, 2019 at 02:26:07 AM

163 and Counting

That is how many orders have been processed as of today! If you are an international backer, you may have received an email with your tracking number. More are being processed, so give it a day or two (and check that spam folder!)

As we discussed in the October update, International orders are processing while US orders leave Hong Kong for the US. 

Customers First 

US orders are on their way, late. We are behind schedule for two reasons. The first was delays to ensure quality that I posted about in September and October. The second reason has been November delays to and from Hong Kong. I attribute this delay primarily to recent political events in that city. Information to us was delayed, and freight shipping dates have slipped. 

Our freight partners are back in action, and gave us a new delivery time table... one that puts Christmas delivery in peril.

The BARD Games team had a tough decision to make this week. We could accept the risky delivery forecast, and your holiday fulfillment, by sticking to our Ocean shipping as funded.  Or, we could pay about x3 - x4 more to Air Deliver all our games to US customs next week, and take a substantial loss to ensure we deliver by Christmas... 

What would you do? 

I can tell you what we did; we elected to take the loss and air freight 294 cases of Fickle. I am proud of this decision, because our goal has always been to build a brand dedicated to our customers first (our CFO may argue this strategy). We are determined to get your game to you by Christmas, and this was the option that removed any risk. 

We hope taking on costs to favor our backers demonstrates our commitment to earning your trust, even when we share delays beyond our control. 

Air Freighting 6 Pallets means they will arrive in the US in the next 7 business days (assuming no surprises at Customs). Receiving and Packing of 986 orders will take another 5-8 days.  Mail takes about 3-7 days (depending on your state). So, expect to see games between December 10 -18. 

BGGCon

Meanwhile, we will have to make up that loss with future sales! To begin marketing Fickle, we also air shipped a small amount (about 8 cases) of Fickle to Dallas, Texas so we have product to show at our first Board Game Geek Con booth. 

We only have the base game to show; no play mats, no card sleeves and none of your Frenzy exclusives.

I know Fickle is the focus of this group, but we have made other games and have other games to launch. BGGCon is an important venue for us to show our products to reviewers and 'get on the Hotness'. If you are at BGGCon, I hope you will come see some of the other games we have in the works and share your support!

Shipping begins! What's the hold up. Start Coloring
over 4 years ago – Sat, Oct 19, 2019 at 10:40:00 PM

Shipping Begins!

That's right, games are packed, pallets are shrink wrapped and now we start the arduous task of coordinating Trucks, Trains, Boats and Planes to get those games to you! 

Factory pick up is under way. From Hong Kong, US orders head to sea (listed as 10 days transit), while International orders will begin shipping to customers shortly. 

Once US product arrives, we are truly excited to announce we have joined forces with the expert's at Nord Games to pack and ship your games. You can read more about our announced partnership here. 

What's the hold up?

We are a few weeks behind our target delivery date. I thought I would share why, because we know our backers are partners in making these games. Here are few events that added time to our schedule: 

• Fickle Bag Logo. We want the bag to look perfect. So, we rejected the first few samples, and ultimately changed materials to avoid 'puckering' of the Fickle Logo that happens when material is stretched for mass sewing. We also had to deal with Dollar (the factory cat) attacking every bag she saw!

• Fickle token side color. When we sent the files and instructions for the wooden token upgrades and heat transfer fairy art, I assumed the color would be applied on the sides of each token... oops! Once we got the sample, I corrected the order so that the entire token would be a beautiful dark blue to match the board.
• Shipping Delays. We had planned for the Golden Week shutdown. We didn't plan for the delays before and after associated with protests in Hong Kong. I support workers rights to assemble and grieve, so this is a noble delay in my opinion. 
• The Sticker Insert. We couldn't complete the insert without the plastic tray. We couldn't complete the tray without component dimensions... etc. We took our time to get the sticker right, so you have an organized game box.

Nearly all our delays were quality decisions. Your comments reminded us that quality is our highest priority, so we hope you will accept our delays as proof we mean to make you a great game.  

Start Coloring.

Did you get an email from us this week? You should have... download instructions for the PDF Fickle Fun Book went out to backers. We see 83 of you have already started the fun! If you didn't receive your email with download instructions, check your spam filter. If it's still not there, alert us at [email protected]

Enjoy those brain teasers. Color some fairies, then post it on our Facebook/bardgames page... let's see if we can get Amy Brown to like our work too!