This was discussed before and you might get even more info. by going to “Estimating Manufacturing Costs?” thread or just using the search button above. Good luck. (During the last 9 years, my manufacturing costs have changed at least 7 times.)

Hi James, interesting formula, I will keep that in mind. Thanks

I copyrighted a toy and was given a formula by toy industry agents and the simplest form was 20% of the retail value should be your manufacturing and storage for 1 yr. The form looks like “.20 X (QTY X MSRP + Dim /12 X .5 ) / qty = Target Manufacturing cost”. Then you start approaching manufacturers to see if they can hit the target or below. I found if I was ordering 10k units or more they competed with each other a little more. Storage can be calculated $0.50/cf per month including packaging, which is rreally high but it keeps the inventory moving. I am sure it varies, but that was a storage facility in California that would receive directly from China.

Hope that helps!
Good luck!

Roger, agreed. They should be able to get their own quotes. I have noticed many toy companies want to have cost estimates up front. They asked me for this, so I am trying to provide in order to close the deal. Thanks for ThomasNet, a great resource!

You can use http://www.thomasnet.com/ to find manufacturers and get quotes. I would ask if the company you are approaching is interested don’t they already make candy toy products? If they do they should already have a company making the products for them and can get their own qoute. Or are you planning on making the product and then selling it to them?
You can also put “manufacturer costs” in the Search feature button above.