"Pre Orders and Kickstarters" Topic

I am done.

Do these products ever come through on time? I have tried pre order or KS 5 times. Only once have I received my purchase. The other 4 times the items have not yet seen the light of day. 6 months to over a year behind and these are from established businesses whom I do not wish to name. I never have backed a KS from a new entrepreneur because of doubts of their ability to put it all together when the established companies show me such a dismal record.

I have backed a small number and never had any problems. Both from established manufacturers and from entrepreneurs.

For the last 18+ years I have evaluated contracts and the ability of performers to actually deliver what they say. I probably have a decent intuitive "these guys are not looking at the big picture" filter.

There's a difference between being able to do a thing and being able to produce a thing. There's also a difference between being able to produce a thing and being able to produce a thing on a schedule.

Even with experienced manufacturers, there can be a learning curve about the difference between doing a year long (or more) project on an a priori fixed schedule and on a if-we-are-six-months-delayed-we-delay-announcement-of-the-product-six-months.

I've backed 14 projects. Only 1 came in "on time". Seems like all the projects run into hick-ups for some reason or another. Even the project that was for a .pdf was delayed a few weeks.

I've been lucky,none of mine have completely fallen through. I did back the All Quiet / Martian Front KS, but before they went bankrupt I got 80% of what they owed me and well more in value than what I pledged.

My advice to anyone who thinks about backing KS projects. Patience, patience, patience. It will be late.

Dave

I've backed 9 so far with 2 still in process. To date, only one delivered (very) late. The other 6 delivered on time or slightly past the deadline.

I understand the risks so for me, the most important issue is communication from the developer/designer. As long as I am kept up to date I do not mind the wait.

Kickstarters are never on time unless they are only digital content. Even then they tend to be a little late.

Kickstarters are done by people who do not have or want to risk their own capital on the project. There is no promise of getting your product.

Pre-orders on they other hand are are a promise to get your product.

I have been lucky all of the KS I have back have been delivered except for one and on that one I got a refund.

So far I've backed 185 KS & 16 Indiegogo. All of the Indies have been delivered. I currently have 67 active KS of which 35 are late so far (one of those I consider to be a dead duck). In my experience, nearly every KS is late, usually by at least 6+ months. So far, it's normally the smaller companies that meet their targets. Midlam & Dark Fable are the best companies that I've dealt with.

Patience is the name of the game as PzGeneral states.

I've always received the kickstarters I have backed, many have been low cost pledges and I tend to walk away from them when I start getting sucked into large amounts of money through expansions etc.
A couple of times I have had delays due to production quality issues but those were communicated bery well and I have no problem a accepting a delay for a good quality product.

So far, I've always received my KS (although not all from the AQMF one), pretty much on time. Still waiting on 3 more, but none are late yet.

As I said, "I am done." If I can pick up the product later, assuming I am still willing to put out the cash, so be it. I have no patience for the kind of delays you folks are reporting.

Kickstarter is not a pre-order platform. I have done over 40 kickstarters and all have been for games. A handful have delivered within 4 months of projected date, but the majority have been close to a year or more late. But I have gotten what I pledged for.

Now, I also did a pre-order from a game company which was promised a year ago. It just arrived yesterday.

So, just wait for the retail version to hit the stores. Less,stressful that way.

40 KS and 3 Indies to date, plus 2 more that failed to fund.

Of the 43, 3 failed altogether – one due to the creator failing to find someone who could make the item at the desired quality level. The other 2 due to he death of the creator. All 3 issued refunds (2 full, 1 partial).

30 have delivered. Most were 3-6 months late. There were a couple around a year late, and a few that managed to be a month or two early.

Of the 10 that are still open, 9 aren't due yet. Number 10, however, is 2 years late (Projected delivery date was July 2016).

That one has me rather pissed… It was a combination of game rules and minis. Allegedly the rules were ready other than one section needing a final proofreading/editing pass, and the minis had the 3D models ready – so all that would have to happen was "Print the minis, make the molds, get the casting under way".

The minis finally shipped a few months ago. The 'ready to go to the printers the day after the KS ends' rules have instead spent the last 2 years getting more playtesting.

That is one company I am unlikely to ever do business with again.