Toys & games fulfillment
Toy & Board-Game Launch & Crowdfunding Fulfillment
Updated October 2026
Once a campaign funds, every backer is waiting on the same release. We build each pledge tier from its list of contents, scan every piece, and ship all the rewards together on your release date, each from the warehouse nearest its backer.
When a crowdfunded or pre-order campaign closes, the backer rewards still have to be stored, put together and shipped. The campaign gathers pledges and addresses and passes a finished order file to us. From there, we:
- receive the production run
- build each pledge tier in batches from its list of contents, scanning every piece
- hold the finished kits for your release date
- ship the whole backer base in one wave from our US warehouses
By The Fulfillment.com team
Orders first, product later
Why a funded campaign ships differently
Crowdfunding is a common way for a toy or board-game brand to prove there's demand before the production run exists. By the time a Kickstarter or similar campaign funds, the brand already has its orders. Hundreds or thousands of backers have each picked a reward tier and their add-ons over the weeks the campaign ran. A store usually works the other way round, with orders arriving a few at a time once the product is on the shelf. A funded campaign hands over its whole order book at once, and nothing ships until the campaign is over and the run has arrived.
That makes a launch a different job from the other two busy seasons in toys. The Q4 holiday peak comes back every year. A subscription box ships on a fixed monthly schedule. A launch happens once. The pledges decide what goes in each box, and every backer's reward ships in a single wave on a release date you pick.
The release
How a crowdfunded launch ships, step by step
Four steps take a launch from the backer file to the carrier, and each one has a check built in.
1. Start from the finished order file
Your campaign runs the pledge survey, which gathers each backer's tier, add-ons and shipping address. Once that file is final, it comes to us. We import the backer orders through BestOMS and Dropstream and fill them from there. Campaigns regularly pull in backers from abroad, and the campaign usually prices their shipping into each tier. International options for your campaign are something to work out with our team.
2. Receive the run and give every edition its own bin
When the production run arrives, we count it and put each item in its own scanned location. A crowdfunded toy or game usually ships several versions at once, for example:
- a retail edition
- a Kickstarter-exclusive edition
- stretch-goal expansions
- upgrade add-ons
Each edition, variant and add-on gets a separate barcoded bin, so an edition can't end up in an order meant for its near twin. Our guide to variant and edition inventory management goes into how that binning works.
3. Build each pledge tier from its list of contents
Every pledge tier has its own list of contents, so we build the tiers in batches. The base tier might be the core game alone. Higher tiers add extras such as:
- a deluxe edition
- a stretch-goal expansion
- a metal-coin upgrade
- an exclusive miniature
We scan each piece into the tier's box and check it against that tier's list. A backer who pledged for the deluxe tier doesn't get the base box, and no kit leaves short an add-on. The games and toys go into the box finished and sealed, and we don't make, mold or change the product itself. Our kitting and assembly service explains how a kit gets built.
4. Hold the kits for the release date, then ship every backer at once
Plenty of launches have a set release or street date. We kit and scan the whole run ahead of it and keep it staged, then release it together so it leaves in one wave. Capacity is planned against your backer forecast. On the day, each scanned order ships from whichever of your stocked warehouses is closest to its backer, and our network reaches 99.77% of the US in 1-3 day ground.
We pack each tier box so it won't crush or shift on the way. You carry your own insurance on the run. Before the wave goes out, agree with your insurer how you'll make good on a reward damaged in transit, so one bad delivery doesn't cost you the goodwill the campaign earned.
The plan
Planning the wave around a known backer count
Most launches have to guess at demand. A funded campaign knows its orders before fulfillment starts, and three things help turn that into a clean release.
- Plan capacity from the pledge count. The number of pledges in each tier tells you how many of each kit to build before the run even arrives. We plan labor and warehouse capacity for the wave around that number, so release day doesn't reveal a shortage of hands.
- Keep one count for the whole run. Every edition and add-on draws on a single pool of stock, so whatever is left after the wave is already counted and ready for a retail or late-pledge store once the campaign is done.
- Spread the run across warehouses. Placing stock in more than one of our warehouses can shorten each backer's delivery leg when the wave ships. Those same warehouses take back rewards that are returned or can't be delivered, and our guide to gift-return processing and restock timelines covers what happens next.
Compliance
The labels and batteries that travel with a launched toy or game
Selling through a campaign doesn't change what a toy has to carry, because the rules follow the product. A children's toy still needs its small-parts warning and age grade, its tracking label and its Children's Product Certificate, and our guide to children's product safety handling explains each one and who provides it. A fulfillment partner can check that this labeling is on the sealed retail unit before it goes into a backer's box, so ask any provider how that check runs and what happens to a unit that fails it. Certifying is the manufacturer's or importer's job. We're a fulfillment company, and we don't make, test or certify toys or issue Children's Product Certificates. Requirements differ by product and campaign, so we settle the label and document handling for your launch at quote.
Battery-powered figures, electronic games and build pieces bring rules of their own, for lithium cells in transit and for button cells in their packaging. Our guide to battery-operated and lithium-battery toy fulfillment sets them out. Settle the battery paperwork and packaging handling for any powered rewards at quote, so a launch shipment isn't held at the carrier.
Toy and board-game launch and crowdfunding fulfillment FAQs
What is toy and board-game launch and crowdfunding fulfillment?
It starts when a crowdfunded or pre-order toy or board-game campaign closes and its backers are waiting for their rewards. Your campaign gathers the pledges and shipping addresses and sends us a finished order file. We receive the production run and build each pledge tier in batches from its list of contents, scanning every piece. Then all the rewards ship together on a date you choose, each from whichever stocked warehouse is nearest its backer. A launch ships once, on a date tied to your pledges, which sets it apart from a monthly subscription box and from the yearly holiday peak.
How is a launch different from the Q4 holiday peak or a subscription box?
Each one brings a rush of toy orders, and each rush has its own pattern. The holiday peak comes back every year, and warehouses cover it with extra labor brought in for those weeks. A subscription box goes out on a fixed monthly schedule that follows your billing. A crowdfunded launch happens once. Orders build up over weeks of campaigning, and nothing ships until the production run arrives and the release date comes. Then every backer's order leaves in a single wave. A launch is that one-time release; holiday peak scaling and subscription boxes each have a guide of their own.
How do you handle pledge tiers, stretch goals, and add-ons?
Every tier is built from its own list of contents. Take a game whose base tier is just the core box. A higher tier could add a deluxe edition and a stretch-goal expansion, and another could add a metal-coin upgrade or an exclusive miniature. Each piece comes out of its own barcoded bin and is scanned again as it goes into the box. That way a deluxe backer gets the deluxe box, and no kit goes out missing an add-on someone paid for. Keeping a Kickstarter-exclusive edition out of retail orders comes down to giving each edition its own bin, which our guide to variant and edition inventory management explains.
Can you absorb the all-at-once shipping wave when a campaign funds?
A crowdfunded launch ends in one big wave, often hundreds or thousands of backers at once. You can spread your inventory across the warehouses we run, and we plan capacity against your backer forecast. The wave then leaves on schedule from the warehouse nearest each backer, instead of piling up on the first day. Every tier box is scanned before it ships.
Can you hold the run and release it all on the street date?
Yes. Many launches are tied to a release or street date. We kit and scan the run ahead of that date and keep it staged, then release every order together, so the rewards leave as one wave instead of trickling out a few at a time. We plan the timing around your date and your backer count.
Who collects backer addresses, and where does Fulfillment.com pick up?
Your campaign does. Its pledge survey collects each backer's tier, add-ons and shipping address, and the crowdfunding site sends a finished order file at the end. We start from that file, importing the orders into your account and fulfilling them. Crowdfunded games often draw backers from outside the US, and the campaign usually builds their shipping into each tier's price. Talk with our team about international options for your campaign.
What about child-safety labels or batteries on a launched toy or game?
Those belong to the product, so a campaign doesn't change them. A children's toy carries a small-parts and choking-hazard warning and an age grade under 16 CFR 1500, a CPSIA Section 103 tracking label, and a Children's Product Certificate backed by testing to ASTM F963 at a CPSC-accepted third-party lab. A part with a lithium battery counts as hazmat for shipping under DOT 49 CFR 171-180 (UN3480 for loose cells, UN3481 for cells in equipment), and button-cell toys fall under Reese's Law child-resistant packaging. We ship the finished good already certified and labeled. We're not a testing lab, and we don't test, certify or issue Children's Product Certificates. How we check for the labels and handle the battery paperwork on your campaign's rewards is settled when you ask for a quote.
Price out your campaign's fulfillment with us
Your backers have already paid, so the shipping cost needs to hold. Send us your pledge tiers, backer count and release date, and we'll show you how we'd build each tier, check it and ship every backer in one wave. The quote is free, and it doesn't commit you to anything.