"KS shipping and delays and questions." Topic
8 Posts
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JammerMan | 06 Apr 2015 5:19 p.m. PST |
Not sure how other folks are experiencing this sensation, the Kickstarter. I have now participated in 3 now. Two were 1700s and one SF. I have liked the product I have gotten, but the price of shipping is climbing and delays are common place. One project was about 3 months late, but finished, one project is going on two years, but has deliver most of product and a third is about 4 months late and I should get it soon. I read the comments (habit) and I know for most of us, these are toys and hobby stuff, and waiting some, kind of goes along with the Kickstarter. But some folks get really mad about delays. I live in the states, so usually shipping is very reasonable or even free, but not so from the EU. I know the reverse is for them. I have read about KS I've not been a part of, and it seems the same for them. So are Kickstarters here to stay, or just a fad (in our gaming hobby)? |
15mm and 28mm Fanatik | 06 Apr 2015 5:24 p.m. PST |
Here to stay bc there are always people willing to wait for stuff available from nowhere else. |
Mako11 | 06 Apr 2015 8:26 p.m. PST |
I'd say delays are inevitable, and to be expected, especially for those that really exceed their targets. I think they should ship on a first-backed, first shipped priority, just to be fair. Presumably, if you're backing one, you should factor that in, along with the discounted pricing for most projects. |
Dan Cyr | 06 Apr 2015 8:44 p.m. PST |
Some KS get way out of control, overselling what they could really deliver in a certain amount of time. Others just suffer bad planning and management. I've done over a dozen KS so far and all have been early, on time or reasonably close. Dan |
Weasel | 06 Apr 2015 8:55 p.m. PST |
Dreams always exceed reality :) Go easy on the ones that promise a ton of stretch goals, free shipping or crazy deals. |
tnjrp | 06 Apr 2015 11:00 p.m. PST |
Dan Cyr TMP 06 Apr 2015 8:44 p.m. PST: I've done over a dozen KS so far and all have been early, on time or reasonably close. I think I've been in about the same number and contrariwise, almost all of them have been late to some degree. Three have been or are being rather seriously late, while I think two have delivered without any delays whatsoever (and they were both by the same company). No clear indication of fulfillment deadline keeping can be drawn from my experience as to how well or how weakly the project performs pre-fulfillment either. So mileages will vary significantly in this regard. I'd add at least 2-3 months to delivery time estimates at this point. As to the apparent question, I don't think KS is a fad, at least not one that is about to go away just yet. Some recent projects have netted muchos dineros, IIRC the record income was broken sometime late last year. Especially miniature board games have been popular, "real" open tabletop miniature games a bit less so. I suppose at some point people are going to get a bit less eager to throw money at ooh-shiny but I'm hardly sure what it will take to affect all KS projects across the board. Maybe more obvious or almost obvious fraud projects or simply big time failures to deliver? Or perhaps we'll need to wait until virtual reality will finally kill off toy soldiers as a source of revenue? In regards to postage & packing, it needs to be noted that a lot of European projects seem to cater to the larger US market by offering free or very low international p&p. The opposite is more rarely true. It will matter less I suppose if the free trade zone between EU and US is established at some point but for now it's almost invariably [ product + p&p + customs fee ] * VAT for KS stuff from the other side of the Atlantic (that being the Americas side as I'm in Finland). |
emckinney | 07 Apr 2015 10:41 a.m. PST |
Repeat after me: "Kickstarter is not a store." |
tnjrp | 07 Apr 2015 11:41 p.m. PST |
One development of note as of late seems to be that more KS projects are stripping down options. You have just two or three possible pledges and a bare minimum of add-ons, with definitely no options to swap anything for anything else. So "smorgasbord" projects of old might be on the fade and KS is moving more into "pick a TV dinner" territory. Which is sorta good if it results into better deadline keeping, even tho it kills my personal interest in many projects. |
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