I'm sick of Kickstarters

[Igwilly]

...I don't think that Kickstarters are going away anytime soon. It's a far safer business model for a company. They get a good idea of the potential marketability of their products and get startup capital directly from customers prior to actually manufacturing anything.

..It beats begging for a bank loan, at a high interest rate, in order to manufacture a product that you hope will be popular enough to pay back the bank and generate a profit.

Well, I understand that. I'm not hoping to go away, either. Perhaps they should be just nicer to post-campaign costumers, which is my main problem.

Just on a note: as far as I know, with Catarse (the Brazilian Kickstarter) you actually receive your money back if the project fails (I think). That could make things better for the original Kickstarter

 

[Dualazi]

I've only been let down by one KS I backed (Pillars of Eternity), and never truly burnt. By comparison, I've had about 5 kickstarts that I've been very pleased with, so on the whole I support it as a method of content distribution.

That said, I definitely also think there're some kinks to still be ironed out. Time of delivery is probably the biggest, I can't remember a single KS that I've been a contributor of that has launched anywhere close to its stated goal, often 6 months later but sometimes years. While I'd rather have a good product eventually rather than a crap product now, it's still extremely irritating.

 

[MNblockhead]

Peoples feeling about Kickstarter, like playing the stock market, or at a casino will vary widely based on their personal results, their expectations going in, and their discipline while participating.

 

[darkrose50]

Kickstarters are advantageous in several ways:

[1a] Here is a fictional example of a $100 board game:

Cost to manufacture $50.00
Sell to wholesaler for 1.15% markup = $57.50
Sell to retailer for 1.20% markup = $69.00
Sell to end user for 1.449% markup = $100.00
= Gross Profit of $7.50

[1b] Here is a fictional example of a $100 board game on kickstarter:

Cost to manufacture $50.00
Sell to end user for 100% markup = $100
= Gross Profit of $50.00

[1c] One unit becomes $50.00 – $7.50 = $42.50 more in gross profits before other expenses.

[2] The company can gauge demand.

[2a] Supply meets demand at an incredibly improved rate.

[2b] The game company can order and stock more or less copies with greater understanding of what the market is demanding.

[3] The game company gets paid first, and then gets to keep that money for about a year. This means more stability and more profits for the company.

[4] It also means more product at a faster rate (if the Kickstarter was popular).

[5] I am in love with the idea myself.

 

[darkrose50]

Try reading again.

I'm upset because I gave a company a bunch of money up front , waited a long time, and then got a product I consider sub-par (to be kind). Had I been able to walk into a store and look at the adventures first, I would never had bought them . That is part of the KS model that sucks-buying blind/on faith and hoping for the best/hoping the products to be delivered will be as well done as previous products from a company.

I have found that good (as in they actually make the product) Kickstarters self-identify themselves via raising a lot of money. Obviously a Kickstarter that raises a little money, can still be awesome.

 

[Ath-kethin]

They mean products which would never have existed can now exist. I love it. Without KS, our choice of gaming products would be far smaller and less interesting.

I love Kickstarter for exactly this reason. My only real complaint is that it's too easy to back something and then regret doing so after it's too late - but that's a me problem, not a Kickstarter problem.

I have at this point backed 11 (successful) Kickstarter campaigns, though two of them ended up never being completely fulfilled (in both cases a promised adventure just vanished into the ether, though in one case it was replaced by a different one). I also wish I could see the products before buying them, but the dollar amounts involved (usually $20-40 for me) are low enough that I don't cry much even if the end result isn't something I think I'll find useful.

But especially since small-press stuff just doesn't seem to exist anymore, I'm totally on board with the Kickstarter methodology. I like not having to worry that a book will be sold out before I make it to the store or missing it entirely.

 

[Ath-kethin]

ard game on kickstarter:

Cost to manufacture $50.00
Sell to end user for 200% markup = $100
= Gross Profit of $50.00

Not to be (even more) pedantic (than usual), but charging $100 for a product that cost $50.00 to produce is a 100% markup, not 200%.

 

[darkrose50]

Not to be (even more) pedantic (than usual), but charging $100 for a product that cost $50.00 to produce is a 100% markup, not 200%.

Thank you, and fixed.

 

[darkrose50]

Q: Is the company and/or person behind the game established with a good reputation and track record?

A: No . . . proceed with caution. I would not spend a great deal of money on such a Kickstarter.

A: Yes . . . proceed with confidence. Back 100, and roll around on them naked like a dragon on a hoard. The chance of something going wrong is much lower.

-----

Q: Did the Kickstarter raise a crazy amount of money? Like over $1,000,000?

A: No . . . not vetted as well by your fellow gamers.

A: Yes . . . then a lot of folks have confidence in this idea. The chance of something going wrong is much lower.

 

[Ath-kethin]

Q: Is the company and/or person behind the game established with a good reputation and track record?

A: No . . . proceed with caution. I would not spend a great deal of money on such a Kickstarter.

A: Yes . . . proceed with confidence. Back 100, and roll around on them naked like a dragon on a hoard. The chance of something going wrong is much lower.

-----

Q: Did the Kickstarter raise a crazy amount of money? Like over $1,000,000?

A: No . . . not vetted as well by your fellow gamers.

A: Yes . . . then a lot of folks have confidence in this idea. The chance of something going wrong is much lower.

Overall: understand that even the most experienced Kickstarter producers miscalculate, and circumstances beyond anybody's control can radically impact completion and/or shipping times. I have backed only one or two Kickstarters (out of 11) that were done on time. In fairness, one is going to be finished early, but generally the estimates have been off by at least a couple of weeks. One of them (from a fairly large company that has run several successful Kickstarter campaigns and raised almost a quarter of a million dollars on the one I backed) is going to be going out about 8 months after the intended release date.

The world keeps spinning.