DriveThruRPG Print-on-Demand Prices Going Up By As Much As 50% In The US

DriveThruRPG has notified creators that the costs of its print-on-demand books will be increasing significantly. The price increase has been attributed to increasing supply costs in the US. The price increase comes into effect on April 1st, and mainly affects books produced in the US.

• Black-and-white hardcover books will increase from 20%-50% in the US, depending on the size of the book, but only 3-4% in the UK.
• Black-and-white softcover books will see an even greater increase in the US.
• Standard color books will increase by 12%-13% in the US, but only 3% in the UK.
• Premium color books will decrease slightly in the US but increase slightly in the UK.

DTRPG uses Lightning Source as its printing partner, which has a printing facility in the US and in the UK.

Here are some examples of how much books will now cost to print in the US:

Black-and-white:

• 100-page black-and-white hardcover will increase from $8.60 to $11.14.
• 300-page black-and-white hardcover will increase from $13.08 to $19.04.
• 100-page black-and-white softcover will increase from $3.76 to $5.69.
• 300-page black and white softcover will increase from $8.32 to $13.73.

Standard Color:

• 100-page standard color hardcover will increase from $11.90 to $13.45.
• 300-page standard color hardcover will increase from $22.98 to $25.97.
• 100-page standard color softcover will increase from $7.13 to $8.05.
• 300-page standard color softcover will increase from $18.43 to $20.81.

Premium Color:

• 100-page premium color hardcover will decrease from $20.05 to $19.
• 300-page premium color hardcover will decrease from $49.50 to $41.
• 100-page premium color softcover will decrease from $15.87 to $13.75.
• 300-page premium color softcover will decrease from $44.87 to $35.75.

Due to increasing supply costs in the US, Black & White print costs in the US will increase significantly, from around 20% for low-pagecount hardcover titles up to about 50% or slightly more for large hardcover books, and with softcover titles seeing an even greater increase.

UK print costs for Black & White books will also increase, but only by 3-4%.

Standard Color print costs will increase by roughly 12-13% for US printing but only around 3% for UK printing.

On the whole, Premium Color print costs will decrease slightly for US printing but increase slightly for UK printing.

• Example 1: A 180-page large premium hardcover currently costs $32.10 to print in the US; after April 1, that same title will drop to $27.80.
• Example 2: In the UK, the same 180-page book currently costs £20.23, which will increase to £20.93 starting in April.

While this directly affects customers in the US, it also has a potentially disastrous effect on those who are currently running Kickstarters which are fulfilling via DTRPG after April 1st, as the printing costs of their books will be significantly more than budgeted for in the Kickstarter. With the price of a print-on-demand print run increasing by as much as 50%, this could cause some crowdfunders to actually lose money, depending on their margins.

 

[Earl of Fife Games]

Seems likely. Standartu doesn't do boxed sets. We print books with Standartu (as do a lot of UK/EU publishers) but for our starter sets etc. we have to go to China.

Yeah, the reason this sparked interest with me is because I chose where to print Heroes & Hardships based on where FL and Modiphius were printing at the time. I liked the quality

 

[Belen]

I have no clue what will happen. My US printers are USMCA compliant so they have just told us that they are not subject to the tariffs. It costs money to get compliant but Drivethrurpg may wish to consider it.

 

[Piperken]

Can any one hazard whether above also impacts the regular (nonfiction, fiction, poetry, etc.) book market as well? I'm mainly thinking of small independent presses generally.

 

[Belen]

Can any one hazard whether above also impacts the regular (nonfiction, fiction, poetry, etc.) book market as well? I'm mainly thinking of small independent presses generally.

It depends on print location. There are a lot of US-based printers although they have being moving some operations outside the US. This may halt of delay the process. Tariffs could be circumvented by becoming USMCA compliant. A lot of businesses never bothered because it did not matter without tariffs in place.

I am not sure what will happen in this roller coaster right now.

 

[Morrus]

I have no clue what will happen. My US printers are USMCA compliant so they have just told us that they are not subject to the tariffs.

For the moment. The 25% tariff on USMCA compliant goods was temporarily lifted on March 7th and goes back into effect on April 2nd. I wouldn't pin your hopes on it if I were you.

It costs money to get compliant but Drivethrurpg may wish to consider it.

Guess when the DTRPG prices rise? I'm pretty sure they've thought this through.

 

[doctorhook]

As a Canadian, I hope this eventually spurs some growth in our domestic printing industry. We’re right next door to the USA but book prices have been insanely marked up for decades now, nevermind the increasingly ridiculous cost of shipping across the border. Plus, we’re the ones with the paper, so…

 

[Jaiken]

Good thing I got what I needed for DnD 5e 2014.

 

[Cordwainer Fish]

We’re right next door to the USA but book prices have been insanely marked up for decades now

 

[doctorhook]

View attachment 399699

Masterful satire!

 

[Li Shenron]

I am not a customer of these but I gotta ask... can someone explain (possibly not just "guess") why the premium printing prices are going  down instead of up like the rest?