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> My campaign goal was $10,000. These funds were meant to cover the cost of printing. > Less loan repayment ($15,000) Just curious: why wasn't the campaign go

by sheetjs 12y ago

> My campaign goal was $10,000. These funds were meant to cover the cost of printing. > Less loan repayment ($15,000) Just curious: why wasn't the campaign goal much larger (at least 15K)? If the person hit the target, they'd still be short for the loan

seandougall 12y ago
Indeed. This whole post is a frustrating exercise in how not to do arithmetic. It's not Kickstarter's fault that he failed to budget the vast majority of his costs -- and failed to proof the product before shipping. Maybe next time he should invest a couple thousand up front and get a competent project manager.
- preinheimer 12y ago
  Where in the post is he blaming kickstarter for anything? It's not the post I'm reading. The post starts with the kickstarter & transaction fees because they come off the total amount raised. The entire thing seems to have been delivered on time, and would have returned a reasonable amount of money without the reprinting & 2nd mailing costs. As someone who saw the original version (with typo), and missed it entirely: it's easy to miss.
  - brazzy 12y ago
    Heck, I had to look three or four times before I saw the typo, knowing that there was one!
- cameronmoll 12y ago
  "It's not Kickstarter's fault that he failed to budget the vast majority of his costs..." Definitely not. But this is a primary reason for authoring the article—a heads up to others who may launch a KS campaign and not fully understand where all the money might go.
Fomite 12y ago
I was once the backer for a campaign that deliberately underbudgeted, because "project like theirs" were routinely getting 2x to 3x their goal, which was actually what he needed. His project made it, but barely. It, rather predictably, failed miserably.
- efuquen 12y ago
  This is such a terrible thing to do. You are intentionally taking advantage of your backers by giving them the false sense of security that you will be more likely to complete your project if you get far more then your goal, when in reality you could be far below what is actually needed to deliver because you really expected to get even more. Again, you are taking advantage of your backers if you do this and it shouldn't be OK. I wish Kickstarter had a penalty or some other system in place to discourage this.
smackfu 12y ago
Well, that's the trouble with the all or nothing part of Kickstarter. Each poster he printed was profitable, so he was much better off setting a small goal and making some money, than setting a large goal that he missed and making no money.

by sheetjs 12y ago

seandougall 12y ago

Indeed. This whole post is a frustrating exercise in how not to do arithmetic. It's not Kickstarter's fault that he failed to budget the vast majority of his costs -- and failed to proof the product before shipping. Maybe next time he should invest a couple thousand up front and get a competent project manager.

preinheimer 12y ago
Where in the post is he blaming kickstarter for anything? It's not the post I'm reading. The post starts with the kickstarter & transaction fees because they come off the total amount raised. The entire thing seems to have been delivered on time, and would have returned a reasonable amount of money without the reprinting & 2nd mailing costs. As someone who saw the original version (with typo), and missed it entirely: it's easy to miss.
- brazzy 12y ago
  Heck, I had to look three or four times before I saw the typo, knowing that there was one!
cameronmoll 12y ago
"It's not Kickstarter's fault that he failed to budget the vast majority of his costs..." Definitely not. But this is a primary reason for authoring the article—a heads up to others who may launch a KS campaign and not fully understand where all the money might go.

Fomite 12y ago

I was once the backer for a campaign that deliberately underbudgeted, because "project like theirs" were routinely getting 2x to 3x their goal, which was actually what he needed. His project made it, but barely. It, rather predictably, failed miserably.

efuquen 12y ago
This is such a terrible thing to do. You are intentionally taking advantage of your backers by giving them the false sense of security that you will be more likely to complete your project if you get far more then your goal, when in reality you could be far below what is actually needed to deliver because you really expected to get even more. Again, you are taking advantage of your backers if you do this and it shouldn't be OK. I wish Kickstarter had a penalty or some other system in place to discourage this.

smackfu 12y ago

Well, that's the trouble with the all or nothing part of Kickstarter. Each poster he printed was profitable, so he was much better off setting a small goal and making some money, than setting a large goal that he missed and making no money.