I used to back a few Kickstarter projects and not pay too much attention to it. I’d pay at the time of the project and then pretty much put it out of mind. Months later, when I got a reward package in the mail, it was an unexpected surprise.
But this year, I’ve been backing more projects so I decided to give it a little more attention. I now make a note when I back a project of when a reward is expected (these are based on the project’s announcement).
And I’ve discovered that the announcement dates are a joke. Since I began keeping records in May, there have been eight projects I’ve backed that had originally promised to deliver something before November. So far, I’ve received one delivery - that was a reward that was supposedly due in August and which arrived yesterday.
Have I had a run of bad luck? Or is it just a routine thing on Kickstarter for projects to miss their schedules?
It’s not a huge deal for me. I can wait until something is ready even if it’s a few months behind schedule. But I’m seeing Kickstarter projects that are currently active and are promising deliveries by Christmas - and I’d be annoyed if I was counting on something as a gift and it didn’t arrive until March.
Well they do set deadlines with the idea that it encourages people to join … “get in before its too late” ?
In practice they can just delay the end until they have feasibility … eg due to economy of scale… or it just fits their plan… (their ego ? )
The ones delivering for christmas have a stronger reason to be on time… But up to you to judge …
I’m not sure I understand you. Nobody ever promises to do anything during the actual proposal.
I suppose there might be some small benefit in promising an early delivery date. Say you are developing some product and you know that realistically you won’t be able to deliver it for six months. But you can promise to deliver it in three months. You might get more people to buy it based on their expectation of receiving the product sooner - and once you’ve got their money, they’re mostly stuck with waiting until the actual delivery date even if it’s delayed.
But you see many people who have run multiple projects. And you’d think having a reputation for keeping your promises and showing you can do what you claim you can do would be more valuable then any benefit you might get from making extravagant promises you won’t be able to keep.
I’ve had a couple of projects that have delivered on time, and many more that have delivered within a reasonable time frame, and a few that are consistently updating and I figure I’ve got good chances of seeing something eventually.
The common factor for the late ones seems to be them being WAY more popular than they originally hoped (or, importantly, planned) for. The extra backers and extra rewards (stretch goals) torpedoes a lot of timely releases.
Yes, Kickstarter projects are routinely late, and I encourage you to create a file tracking their progress.
I see from my notes that one project was on time, one was delayed for 11 months and a delay of only 3 months is decent. What has surprised me is that all of them eventually delivered at least in some manner. That said I also recommend due diligence.
I use Kickstarter as a “completion grant”. I don’t have enough fans to completely fund my projects ahead of time, so I make sure I have the funds in place as I start the project and set a calendar with a release date.
Things tend to go over budget, so as I’m getting close to the end I start a Kickstarter campaign for a small fraction of the total budget for the project. At this point, the project is going to be completed one way or another. The money from Kickstarter just makes the final couple of months a little less painful.
With this model, I do not miss delivery dates.
Some people have unrealistic expectations from Kickstarter and/or can not properly budget or set a calendar for their projects.
MichaelEmouse’s advice is pretty good. Think of your donation as a donation and do it because you believe in the project and want to support. It actually sounds like this is what the OP has been doing (“Months later, when I got a reward package in the mail, it was an unexpected surprise”). Once you start thinking of the Rewards as something that you have purchased, you may be setting yourself up for disappointment.
Man, I gotta stop reading TSD forums just after reading motorcycle forums. I bet you can guess what I thought “kickstarter” meant.
I agree, as bienville said, “MichaelEmouse’s advice is pretty good. Think of your donation as a donation and do it because you believe in the project and want to support. It actually sounds like this is what the OP has been doing (“Months later, when I got a reward package in the mail, it was an unexpected surprise”). Once you start thinking of the Rewards as something that you have purchased, you may be setting yourself up for disappointment.”
I understand it’s routine for RL construction projects to miss their schedules. And for delays to occur when movies are made. And for novelists to miss their deadlines. Consumers don’t notice this though, because they mostly don’t purchase products that haven’t started production yet.
I just got a Kickstarter product in the mail today: it was a Joe Sacco book published by Fantagraphics. It was scheduled to be delivered in September. The publication date according to Amazon was yesterday. The inside jacket says it was printed in Singapore in September. Stuff happens.
If I’m going to complain about the projects that arrive late, I have to praise the ones that arrive early. I just received my copy of “One Zero One” from Grail Games a month ahead of their original schedule.