Tariff Projections (And When They're Be Charged)
5 months ago
– Mon, Nov 10, 2025 at 02:53:02 PM
Hey everyone, we just updated our former backers of how tariffs for the US are going to affect them, and I wanted to pass the message along here. This project is in a slightly different boat from those ones, as we'll be charging the tariff costs with the taxes (which we don't plan to do until closer to when the pdfs for this project are done and we're getting ready for digital fulfillment). However, the plan of attack for tariffs here is going to be the same as for the US, so all of our US backers shoulder read the following:
For anyone uncertain, the following only really applies to those in the US. There are tariffs for other borders, but they aren’t nearly as extreme and will be pretty noticeably absorbed into the shipping costs.
The Breakdown
We had concerns that tariff costs for the books specifically would be as high as 145% of their cost due to their classification and packaging alongside elements that would have listed them as board game elements, but we have done our research on how to properly label and consolidate shipments in such a way as to reduce that heavily, and are also dedicated to biting a large chunk of the tariff costs at the border. We’ve brought a possible 145% cost down to 40%, which unfortunately, we cannot absorb more of. Some items, such as dice, or plastic-based products, also face tariffs ranging from 40-80%, but since these items aren’t as numerous, they won’t factor in as much
Our Chunk of Things
To be clear about the breakdown, Nat19 Entertainment will be biting about half of the total tariff cost for this project, which means we’re going to exit this Kickstarter with little in the way of profit, but that’s fine in light of the community we’ve seen form around the project and knowing we got this material out into the world. Not to be saccharine, but the community and sharing our love of TTRPGs and storytelling has always been our greatest motivating factor, and profit is nothing but a way to keep more content coming.
Feedback
We want everyone in the US (and those concerned about tariffs in their own countries) to go to BackerKit through your previously sent survey links and check your updated totals. They currently reflect the tariff costs that will be charged. If you have any questions about this, we encourage you to send us a direct message here on Kickstarter, and we will work to resolve any issues you may have.
There will be plenty of warning to backers before these tariffs and taxes will be charged!
BackerKit Project: Splash Book Print Run
For anyone who wants more content and to help us make up for the chunk of the tariffs we’re going to be biting, we’re running a campaign through BackerKit that will be a print run for the Splash Books we’ve been advertising through 2025. You can find the link to that project by clicking the graphic below:
It will be live through December, and will not involve additional costs for design: it is to print softcover (and maybe hardcover) copies of our completed splash books, which will print and sell only in the USA and Canada, and avoid the tariff situation by starting from within US borders (something we can’t do for the larger print runs for Lyre’s guides). We expect this project to be completed and have nearly immediate fulfillment.
Costs, Add-ons, and Details
Our goal with this project is to keep production costs low and within the US, so we won't be going hard on things like dice or whatnot that require additional funding. However, we will also be including some existing add-ons that we have in stock at our US location, such as previously completed mousepads, dice sets, and similar items.
Tiers
The main items available will be softcover copies of the three splash books, which will include their digital files. The base tiers will be as follows:
- $30 CAD - Digital files for all three books
- $40 CAD - Lana's Fateful Vault softcover + Digital Files
- $45 CAD - Dead Saint Record softcover + Digital Files
- $50 CAD - Three Gentle Sins softcover + Digital Files
- $120 CAD - Softcover copies of all three books + Digital Files
The individual books will be available as add-ons at the above prices as well.
Stretch Goals
Stretch Goals are currently planned to be as follows - please be aware that they are intentionally low-cost, since we're trying to keep the cost of anything new that needs to be made low:
- $5000 CAD - Hardcover options of the books are made available as add-ons, as well as a tier for buying them together.
- $15,000 - An add-on that serves as a pre-order for PDFs of splash books we make in 2026 will be added, which will be much cheaper than buying them when they come out.
- $30,000 - Alternate covers for the splash books will be made for the campaign. They will cost the same as the base books. You'll be able to choose which cover you want after the campaign ends.
- $50,000 CAD - We will add a tier/add-on for a softcover compendium of the splash books merged into one book, which will also have new content added to expand on the content already existing in all three of them.
- $75,000 CAD - A hardcover option for the compendium.
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$100,000 CAD - A campaign exclusive alternate cover for the compendium.
For the sake of transparency, hardcover copies are priced at their own tiers because they constitute a separate order and incur a higher production cost.
We will be spending our time before the launch in December seeing what add-ons and such we can add to the campaign without adding additional unneeded costs to the customer side.
