Few things are as exciting as shipping your first eCommerce order. Turning your ideas into a physical product and sending it out to customers all over the world feels incredible!

But, shipping eCommerce orders can be tough. Many businesses hire fulfillment centers to help with this. Choosing the right fulfillment center can be overwhelming because costs vary dramatically.

In this article, we’ll demystify the costs of using a fulfillment center for eCommerce. We’ll explain how fulfillment centers price their services, break down the various costs, and show you how to estimate the total cost of order fulfillment using quotes and a simple spreadsheet.

Can you imagine trying to organize international trade without a standard code system? That’s why Harmonized System Codes – HS codes, for short – exist: to standardize the classification of goods for international trade.

HS Codes were first introduced in 1988 by the World Customs Organization (WCO). Despite the technical sounding name, HS Codes have helped detangle a really complicated logistical problem.

HS Codes help countries efficiently trade goods and calculate duties owed for imports and exports. In this guide, we’re going to talk about what you need to know about HS Codes in order to trade goods internationally.

Getting your board game in stores isn’t just about making a great product—it’s about understanding how retailers think. At GAMA Expo 2025, a board game convention for industry folks in the know, I sat in on a panel called Things Retailers Wish Publishers Knew. The panel featured Andrea Robertson of...

Running a small business can be a disorienting, confusing experience, regardless of how much experience you have. It's tough to know where to turn for timely and useful information, reliable data, and time-saving software. That's why in this week's post, we're going to share some of our favorite helpful websites...

Is the economy in a recession right now? It depends on who you ask and has proven to be a surprisingly contentious question. And, of course, recent tariff changes and shifts in U.S. trade policy have started up a whole new wave of speculation. It's really tough to know what...

Note: This topic is changing quickly and we're going to be keeping this post up-to-date as best we can. Last update: April 21, 2025 at 3:27 PM ET.

The U.S. government has recently made some major changes to its trade policy. Most of this has been in the context of tariffs, which are taxes charged on imported goods.

Most consumer packaged goods (CPG) brands aren’t rolling in venture capital. And that’s okay. You don’t need a million-dollar ad budget to succeed. But you do need focus. Clear strategy. The willingness to test things fast helps, as does a little grit. To help you understand what CPG marketing looks...

International shipping is a monster. On the surface, it seems like getting products from point A to point B. But doing that involves dealing with complex logistics, handling unpredictable events, and managing your customers' expectations. It's very easy to send items to the wrong address and run out of inventory....

“You need to bring your own audience to Kickstarter.” You’ve probably heard that advice if you’re planning on launching a campaign soon. But how do you exactly market your Kickstarter before launch?

It’s not just about “building an email list” or “posting on social media.” There’s nothing wrong with those strategies, but without a larger plan and more context, they probably won’t work.

When you market your Kickstarter campaign, you need a holistic strategy. To build an effective marketing plan, you need to combine many different methods to succeed.

If you’re planning a crowdfunding campaign this year, you’ll want to start with the right strategy. At GAMA Expo 2025, a board game convention for industry folks in the know, I sat in on a panel called Crowdfunding Best Practices. The panel was absolutely stacked with experts, including: Nicole Amato...

The Company Level 99 is a board game publishing company owned and operated by Brad Talton. Some of their more popular games include BattleCON, Pixel Tactics, Millennium Blades, Argent: the Consortium, and Empyreal: Spells & Steam. Once launched on Kickstarter, the games are also available to buy online as well as at select retail outlets. The Challenge...

THE COMPANY Creative Beast is a small business that sells realistic, built-to-scale dinosaur action figures made by owner-operator, David Silva. Creative Beast uses the crowdfunding platform Kickstarter and the pledge management system BackerKit to launch each new line of action figures. Once launched, the dinosaurs are also available to buy online as...