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Kickstarter project raised $196K and stopped responding

kickstarter.com

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Re: Kickstarter project raised $196K and stopped responding

#71

Post by jaque »

fragsworth wrote: post #38
uptown wrote: post #3

I'm surprised this isn't a more-common outcome of things on Kickstarter. Seems like the perfect "market" to peddle vaporware without consequence.

This might be a serious problem already, but people are generally unaware of it. Kickstarter does not make it easy to find failed projects. And almost everyone who contributed to a project a year ago is likely enough to have forgotten about it by now. Even if they remember it, they have no way of rounding up all the other backers into an angry mob, except by posting on reddit or Hacker News.

do you know how many highly funded projects did fail?

i only know of zion eyez, where engagdet even featured a prototype and it still somehow vaporized.

Re: Kickstarter project raised $196K and stopped responding

#72

Post by wmf »

UVB-76 wrote: post #64
imroot wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Crypteks, Inc has a few patents (mainly dealing with network security), but nothing patented for the USB key. http://1.usa.gov/14l68Uj

Does that database display pending patents? It seems to me they are claiming to have patents pending.

I don't see any relevant applications in the database, but applications are only published ~18 months after filing so there may (barely) be some lurking.

Re: Kickstarter project raised $196K and stopped responding

#73

Post by aplusbi »

wubbfindel wrote: post #54
k-mcgrady wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>> "Then what's the incentive to participate at all?" Someone believes they can create a product you want. They can only create it if you give them some money to get going. The incentive is a product you want getting built. Do you want this thing enough that you're willing to risk $10 backing it? I think for a lot of people that's enough incentive.

Not even a VC backs a project purely because they believe in it - they look for the potential return.

This is no different except that the ROI is not money. It's a product.

Re: Kickstarter project raised $196K and stopped responding

#74

Post by alpb »

hop wrote: post #50

Im a backer and they offered refunds twice to anyone that wanted it so I don't know why anyone is complaining. This project was before Kickstarter disallowed renderings (for good reason) and they would probably never have gotten to this shitty position if they had to actually prototype it and find out how insanely expensive it would be to manufacture.

OK so I'll launch a Kickstarter project, 10s of thousands of people will back me and I'll just say that I can refund their money after charging them. I think only several hundreds will request the refund, the rest is mine then?

Re: Kickstarter project raised $196K and stopped responding

#75

Post by tekacs »

breadbox wrote: post #63
hop wrote: post #50

Im a backer and they offered refunds twice to anyone that wanted it so I don't know why anyone is complaining. This project was before Kickstarter disallowed renderings (for good reason) and they would probably never have gotten to this shitty position if they had to actually prototype it and find out how insanely expensive it would be to manufacture.

The complaint says that they have not actually given out the offered refunds. Is that not true?

See the project updates page[1] for an update called 'Refund Process' and indeed a 'Refund Reminder'. :/

[1]: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/crypteks/crypteks-usbtm-...

Re: Kickstarter project raised $196K and stopped responding

#76

Post by hop »

breadbox wrote: post #63
hop wrote: post #50

Im a backer and they offered refunds twice to anyone that wanted it so I don't know why anyone is complaining. This project was before Kickstarter disallowed renderings (for good reason) and they would probably never have gotten to this shitty position if they had to actually prototype it and find out how insanely expensive it would be to manufacture.

The complaint says that they have not actually given out the offered refunds. Is that not true?

I know they gave out a lot of refunds over the last year, looks like they stopped or ran out of money recently.

Re: Kickstarter project raised $196K and stopped responding

#77

Post by tekacs »

alpb wrote: post #74
hop wrote: post #50

Im a backer and they offered refunds twice to anyone that wanted it so I don't know why anyone is complaining. This project was before Kickstarter disallowed renderings (for good reason) and they would probably never have gotten to this shitty position if they had to actually prototype it and find out how insanely expensive it would be to manufacture.

OK so I'll launch a Kickstarter project, 10s of thousands of people will back me and I'll just say that I can refund their money after charging them. I think only several hundreds will request the refund, the rest is mine then?

This seems rather unlikely (hyperbole, to be frank) - those using Kickstarter are surely aware of the nature of the platform, not thinking of it as a checkout.

Unless the refund process is unduly complex, there doesn't seem to be an obvious reason why the vast majority of backers wouldn't ask for a refund.

Re: Kickstarter project raised $196K and stopped responding

#78

Post by forrestthewoods »

incision wrote: post #45
Udo wrote: post #30

The expectations some people have about crowdfunding are unrealistic. It has to be clear from the start that when you donate money to those projects the money will be spent and the project might fail anyway. People have been using Kickstarter as a pre-order site which I think is not ideal in many cases. The option to preorder should be different from supporting a project in general, but Kickstarter sadly doesn't offe…

>People have been using Kickstarter as a pre-order site which I think is not ideal in many cases. Kickstarter backs this perception. "In just 24 hours, 20,000 people bought an Ouya console — a product they had never heard of before yesterday." - Yancey Strickler - Cofounder/Head of Communications at Kickstarter [0] 0: http://www.kickstarter.com/blog/ouyas-big-day

Kickstarter is trying very hard to NOT back that perception. They have and continue to make changes to make it clear that Kickstarter is not a pre-order site.

"Kickstarter is Not a Store" - http://www.kickstarter.com/blog/kickstarter-is-not-a-store

Re: Kickstarter project raised $196K and stopped responding

#79

Post by jrochkind1 »

wubbfindel wrote: post #54
k-mcgrady wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>> "Then what's the incentive to participate at all?" Someone believes they can create a product you want. They can only create it if you give them some money to get going. The incentive is a product you want getting built. Do you want this thing enough that you're willing to risk $10 backing it? I think for a lot of people that's enough incentive.

Not even a VC backs a project purely because they believe in it - they look for the potential return.

Not 'even' a VC? Of course not a VC!

There are plenty of kickstarter projects that people fund because they want to see it happen, with the 'gifts' being just an extra spur.

But NOT the technology ones. The technology ones are pretty much all pre-sales, with people spending money only to get a product, indeed.

But they're presales on something that doesn't yet exist. With no contractual obligation to actually deliver it.

I suspect the tech projects have a much higher rate of failure (==not getting delivered) than the 'art' projects. But also that the tech projects take in much more $$ than the 'art' projects, meaning more money for kickstarter's 5% cut too.

Re: Kickstarter project raised $196K and stopped responding

#80

Post by reustle »

ipsin wrote: post #7

It's unfortunate that all the updates are Backer-Only, including a recent one titled "Refund Reminder". Could someone on HN who backed this project summarize what the company has said in its Backer-Only communication?

I really wish kickstarter didn't hold project updates to backers only. I'd love to see some of the updates before I donate to a project.
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