"How does a Kickstarter work?" Topic

Seriously. I only have a vague idea.
Tell me where I get the following right. Or wrong.

Hypothetical scenario.
Suppose that OFM Miniatures announced that their world renowned designers had finally come down with Washington Crossing the Delaware. Per Leutze.

Various levels of support are announced.
Level 1 gets you a Durham boat.
Next level is the guy vomiting over the side. (At least that's what it looks like to me.)
Then the guy pushing an ice floe away.
Then the Scot.
Then the woman.
Then a few crew.
Then the African American.
And so on. Each level you pledge to gets you that figure plus "all of the above".
Of course the last level is George Washington. The whole crew.
The close date is … December 25.

What happens to the project if the goals are only half or three quarters reached? Not enough people kicked in for George.

But the design work is already done. The figures, plus the geometry to fit them as per the painting.
The Durham boat seems the easiest. A laser cut drawing CAD file or 3D print file.

So, all is released and shipped up to the level of money raised by Dec 25.
Then what?
Is there some ethical or legal barrier to finishing it?

What if someone who pledged wants to drop out because the George Washington level was never reached?

What about the public who never pledged? Will it be available to them? When, if ever?

I've never participated in one, and probably never will. Just curious.
I have proposed and promoted various Eureka 100 Club projects, but this seems more complicated.

There is only one goal on a kick starter project which is the funding level, usually there are several funding tiers so you can say I'll pledge £20.00 GBP to get the basic version of £50.00 GBP to get the deluxe version.

If the funding goal is not reached then no money is taken.

so in your scenario, come the 25th December the project fails to fund. you get to keep your money and the company involved don't get a penny.

quite often there will be stretch goals which is the company promising that if a set level above the funding goal is reached then people who pledged will get something else

however there are other crowd funding platforms (indigogo I think is one) where the company can take your money even if the total wasn't reached

Is there a legal barrier to not delivering? I'm not sure – pledgers are basically investors so I guess if you could prove that the Kickstarter never attempted to fulfil the stated aims then I guess you'd have some sort of claim. If it proves impossible to make the Durham Boat out of spider's web as specified, then too bad, the risks of using a new medium will probably have been spelt out.
A moral barrier to not finishing? Of course.
If it fails to reach the goal, no money (in Kickstarter) changes hands, so yes, you could go ahead without the guaranteed investment in the product. You've even got a contact list for some interested people.

In your case, the basic goal would probably be to fund Washington and his boat. Stretch goals might be another boat with a different crew (in the background), which you'd need for gaming an assault, or a selection of floating chunks of ice, which you'd definitely want for a diorama.

As to making it available to the general public, I don't think there's a rule, one way or the other. The kickstarters I've participated in made the figures available to the general public after they'd sent out all the kickstarter orders, and had a bit of time to replenish stock. The advantage to me here was:
1) getting the figures before the general public, and
2) the price per back was a bit lower than the eventual selling price to the general public.

Grelber

I am going thru the throes of deciding to do this or not. Lots of studying, hoping to get it right. Biggest fear is not so much do we meet goal, but if you build it, will they come..? one thing not to make goal much worse no or single digit backers. Shipping is formidable as well.

There is no real legal way to enforce completion of a kickstarter project which funded. Couple of years back I went "ALL IN" on a kickstarter, paid $600 USD, and got nothing but frustration. Folks who had pledged for $90 USD got the basic product, but the guy running the kickstarter apparently spent most of the $74,000 USD proceeds on high living and went dark and silent long before most of the 'investors' received their goods. Then the feckless young dweeb posted a photo of his brand new car on his facebook page. No legal recourse. It hasn't stopped me from backing other kickstarters. All of the rest (probably 15) have delivered.

On Kickstarter, backers can drop out for any reason before the closing bell. Once the project ends, if it funded, there's no backing out then.

There are always some number of dropouts over the course of a campaign for various reasons: sudden financial emergency, doesn't look like favoured stretch goals will be reached, another shinier project launched and the fickle jerks jump ship, etc. It's always a big emotional roller coaster for the organiser, especially on days mid-campaign when the numbers drop more than they rise.

Some campaigns allow new backers to join after it officially ends, up until you have to lock down numbers for actual production. You can handle this trough third party software like Backerkit (they take a percentage, so that cost must be factored in), or on small projects you could opt to handle it yourself through PayPal (factor in the extra management time towards expected shipping date). Backerkit has the advantage that money paid is locked in immediately; individual PayPal runs the risk of folks grabbing a refund whenever the inevitable delays slow down delivery.

Either of the post-campaign options usually allow for existing backers to add more funds to pay for additional stretch goals. This is helpful for backers who want more goodies, but want to stretch payments over multiple paycheck periods and/or credit card billing cycles.

Some projects allow additional money raised post-campaign to go towards unlocking unmet stretch goals. This makes sense if you need X amount of upfront production money to make each new sculpt/mold.

Yes, this is a very complicated process with lots of hidden costs, and surprises like sudden postal rate increases that hit jsut as you're about to ship product and everybody already paid for the older lower rate. Fortunately, lots of folks who have gone through this themselves are willing to talk and help others.

Your pricing structure is backwards. e.g.:
The basic kickstarter is for 1 Durham boat. The "Funding Level" is $500. USD [This is the estimated cost to actually produce the boat.]

The "Early Adopters" price is $20. USD This price is for the first 20 people to pledge.
The standard price is $25 USD and no "Stretch Goals" (see below). [You often see 15 early adopters and 3 people paying standard price, someone just wasn't paying attention.]
The standard price is $30 USD including all stretch goals.
You can also pledge $1 USD, to hold your place in line if you choose to jump in later.

There are higher pledge levels e.g.
$50 USD for the boat and George.
$75 USD for the boat, George and 2 rowers.

And then there are "Stretch Goals":
If they reach $2,000 USD in pledges the "ice pusher" is free to all stretch goal pledgers.
If they reach $3,000 USD in pledges the "guy hanging over the (hopefully) lee side" and all above stretch goals are free to all stretch goal pledgers.

When enough money has been pledged to meet the "Funding Level" ($500) hopefully they build the boat. If they have been accurate with their estimates, and there have been no unforeseen problems that could not be overcome, you get the boat and extras that you have paid for. Obviously, if only $2,001 USD is pledged, then you don't get that last stretch goal. If that last guy costs $7,000 USD to produce and they only have $3,001 USD pledged then you don't get him.

At about this time they take a "Backer's Survey" to confirm shipping addresses, and to let you up your pledge level when you realize that you are pledged for a boat with three passengers and no rowers.
At this time you also get a better idea of shipping costs. This has killed previous kickstarters so now it is left to the end, what with every nation's postal service jacking their rates.

The two posts immediately above contain important information about the final delivery of product.

Sorry I forgot the last.
If this is or something printed (e.g. a book), or hand painted figures or scenery, a second print run is probably too expensive.
If this is for miniatures, the mold is made, and if they have the money for more metal, it could be put into regular production.
If this is for print your own 3D files (.stl's), it will go on the web store.
But, the retail price will be higher.

At the top of the Kickstarter page look at the FAQ, Updates, and Comments. See what other people are saying about it.

What about the public who never pledged? Will it be available to them? When, if ever?

Sometimes, the products never actually reach the open market…which can be an added incentive to back the KS.

@Walking Sailor
You're probably right about going backwards.
Level one should be the boat. I would get a lot of them.
Level 2 would be George and Madison with flag.
Then higher levels could include the more prominent rowers and ice floe pushers away.
I'll let the OFM know.

But seriously, I would want the price for the whole project, complete boat and crew that fit easily together to be priced compatible with Perry or Eureka. I like their quality, and their current pricing level is for me as high as I'm willing to go.

As an aside, I was very impressed with both Foundry and Eureka 4-horse Assyrian chariots. Eureka chariot was so well designed and cast that it almost snapped together. Foundry crew were extremely well designed to fit into a rather small cramped chariot cab. So, crew figures fitting together for George Washington and the lads (and lady) should be doable.

Take a look at indiegogo.

indiegogo.com

Have you seen The Producers? It's like that.

My understanding is that multiple pledge levels and stretch goals are optional. So if one wanted to keep things simple, there could just be a single pledge level (the boat with the whole crew, including George himself) and a single funding level to be met.

But seriously, I would want the price for the whole project, complete boat and crew that fit easily together to be priced compatible with Perry or Eureka.

Actually Perrys make a boat with crew (Napoleonic British), if the OFM miniatures wants a reference for their pricing:

Roderick Robertson Fezian 04 Dec 2018 8:52 a.m. PST
Have you seen The Producers? It's like that.

Ah. So I'm a rich little old lady?
That clarified things.

> Washington Crossing the Delaware. Per Leutze

Most backers will want a complete replica, so I would only have two pledge levels, a $1 USD add-on pledge level, and a $XXX pledge level for the entire set of figures replicating the painting. The add-on allows you to buy the pieces individually. Add-ons, though, add complexity to a project. Given the subject material, I don't see, offhand, any reason to have any add-ons, perhaps other than the boat itself?

> But the design work is already done.

If funding fails, any money already spent on the project is lost, unless the creator finds some other way to fund the project.

From what I can tell, Kickstarter has become less about funding the startup costs for new products and more about marketing products that would be produced anyways and in many cases are already designed and ready to be produced. The Kickstarter campaign generates a base of early sales, albeit at a discount, and publicity.