MakePlayingCards.com

MakePlayingCards.com (MPC) is a custom playing card and game card printer that makes decks from a single copy up to tens of thousands, designed in its own online card maker and printed in-house. It serves game designers, Kickstarter creators, retailers and businesses, and ships worldwide. The homepage calls MPC "a constantly evolving professional playing cards and game cards company since 1982" and says it has "over 40 years in the tabletop games manufacturing industry serving more than 35,000 customers worldwide in the last year alone." For sellers it adds two routes beyond ordering cards: a marketplace for card designs and a fulfillment service.

What a seller gets

The core of MPC is the online card maker. The homepage lays out the steps: choose the card size, select the card stock, number of cards and finishing, choose packaging such as a tuck box or rigid game box, open the maker, drag and drop image files onto the card fronts and backs, then preview the finished design and add it to the cart. The company says its maker guides the designer "through image resolution requirements, positioning, and identify possible printing issues," needs no downloads, and shows a real-time preview. It says a designer can create cards "in seconds" and have them "delivered direct to your door in less than a week, whether you are in the US, UK, Canada, Australia, Singapore, Europe or anywhere else in the world," either to themselves or to their customers.

The key terms for a seller are on the same page: "no minimum order required on our huge range of standard size items i.e. you can order 1 custom deck to tens of thousands of decks as you need." MPC also says it produces professional decks "without the traditional design and consultation fees," and that "all printing and production are done inhouse and undergo strict quality control." Its sample galleries cover tabletop games, professional services, photography, retail and resellers, marketing and promotion, TCG game cards, Kickstarter projects and sport cards. Its customers, as the company lists them, span the tabletop games industry, education, retail and resellers, hospitality, professional services and corporate marketing.

Card sizes, stocks and finishes

The range is wide. Card sizes and types in the Design & Buy menu include game cards, mini, bridge and poker size playing cards (standard 63 x 88mm and traditional 63.5 x 88.9mm), big playing cards 50% bigger than standard, giant cards, tarot cards, 100% plastic cards, pinochle and trump cards, wedding cards, transparent cards, monogrammed cards, braille playing cards, lenticular cards, TCG tokens and cards, sports cards and Kickstarter playing cards. Designs can be a custom back only, a custom face and back, blank game cards, or a text-only custom back, and MPC stocks blank game cards that it recommends for prototyping before a print run.

On stock, MPC says it has "13 different professional playing cards grade card stocks," 11 paper stocks plus 100% plastic, sourced from industrial paper manufacturers. Named options include linen and smooth stocks, black core, the Linen Air (Master quality finish) with "deep air pockets to trap air for excellent handling on M32 card stock," the Linen Air Light (Supreme quality finish), and Eco Herbage, "a sustainable playing card stock for the environmentally friendly and conscious person, made from leafy part of plants with a natural brown tint." Special printing options include high gloss, gilded edging, holographic foiling, spot cold foiling, embossing, debossing and hot foil stamping, and the About section also names spot UV and embossed boxes.

Prices and packaging

The homepage publishes starting prices: custom playing cards from 0.99, custom game cards from 0.75, custom plastic cards from 2.70, and boxes, booklets and accessories from 0.20, in the currency the visitor selects. It also says MPC has reduced the prices of all its linen card stocks and its premium smooth card stock for decks of 55 cards and above in poker and bridge size at 1000 copies or more. Payment options include wire transfer.

Packaging is a product line of its own: tuck boxes, rigid boxes, tin and plastic boxes, brick boxes, double deck boxes, uncut sheets, sticker seals, booklets, tarot cloths, card sleeves, card clips and metal cards, plus poker chips and a sample pack. For Kickstarter projects the homepage highlights custom brick boxes, custom uncut sheets with no minimum, double deck boxes, booklets and card and box finishes, alongside printing from prototype to full production runs. MPC also sells its own MPC branded decks, in lines named Gods, Scented, Transparent, Fluorescent, AQUA, The ONE, Chao, Castle, Metallic Foil and Impressions, which give a designer a feel for what the finishes look like in a finished product, and it promotes invisible playing cards on the homepage. It lists custom jigsaw puzzles and custom board games under "We also do."

Marketplace, fulfillment and shipping

The MarketPlace invites designers to "Sell your card designs on our platform and earn commision when people buy your design," with separate sell and shop sections, so an artist can list a deck and let MPC print and ship each order. The menu also links to a fulfillment service, a business program and business accounts, and to delivery, accreditation, and guarantee and returns pages.

On shipping, MPC says it delivers worldwide, and that bulk shipping has become cheaper: an order over 24kg shipping to the US can use the Bulk-economy option at checkout. On packaging, it says it is replacing plastic card bands with a paper band on all paper boxed decks as part of cutting plastic use, and that "going green is one of our top operational priorities." It also says it holds accreditations with globally recognized standards organizations, without naming them on the homepage.

Who MakePlayingCards.com suits

MPC suits card game and tabletop designers who want to prototype a single deck, order review copies and then scale to a production run without changing supplier, and TCG, tarot and sports card creators who need a specific size or stock. Kickstarter creators get brick boxes, uncut sheets and double deck boxes without minimums, and a fulfillment service. Artists who only want to design can list decks on the marketplace and earn a commission per sale. Businesses ordering logo decks or promotional cards get published starting prices and bulk shipping options.

It is a cards-first supplier: a seller whose shop also needs apparel or wall art will need a second partner.