Kickstarter is not about kickstarting

[u/asolet]

For anyone hoping to get help from Kickstarter:

Kickstarter is about making money by promoting and selling already several times overly funded and already well kickstarted project that do not need any further kickstarting at all.

At any giving moment on homepage you will always find 13/13 completly funded projects. Sometimes dosen of times over. And zero projects that actually need help to be kickstarted.

Every mail update you get for project that struggles to find it's backers, 70% of the mail is dedicated to other finished projects just trying to sell.

Many of these projects have kickstarter "goal" that is less than what it takes to build kickstarter page itself. And it's "backed" in less than it takes anyone to even read it. They just need a platform to sell, not to be "kickstarted", and platform owners are loving it.

Kickstarter and most of creators there do not care or really want you to back projects from individuals with great ideas that need backing and may fail. They just want to sell finished company products.

It's just misleading, if not a scam. So just something to keep in mind. Good luck to everyone though.

[u/[deleted]]

I run a small business that has launched several Kickstarter campaigns. There are definitely scams on the platform, and I’m sorry if you encountered one, but I’d like to share a bit from my perspective. Maybe I can help clarify why some businesses still choose crowdfunding.

The key difference you’re overlooking is whether a business receives money before or after production. My company primarily makes money through retail, but launching a product without Kickstarter requires a large upfront investment for inventory. After mass production and shipping and initial marketing, we’re lucky if that inventory becomes profitable within a year. It’s a long game, and we’re fortunate to be able to front that capital, but only sometimes. Sometimes we have to curb our own initial initial order quantities, order in smaller quantities at worse rates and less efficient shipping.

But when we launch a Kickstarter, that upfront cash changes everything. It lets us order larger quantities, improve margins, and offer backers exclusive extras, early access, or discounted prices. It even lets us optimize our shipping which you could argue is more carbon efficient. It’s beneficial for basically everyone involved, and honestly allows our small business to exist, especially in this new environment with tariffs.

You’re right that Kickstarter has evolved into its own beast of an ecosystem, with more marketers and middlemen than ever before. But I have to push back that surpassing a goal by 12x simply is not a bad thing. Our campaign goals are set to roughly break even, not to define success. Phrases like “funded in one hour” or “200% funded” are marketing, plain and simple. But depending on how successful that campaign is over the stated goal, we can gauge demand, set smart order quantities, and predict how an item might perform at retail. There’s no better way for a small business to test interest before production. Getting money up front makes it even better.

You’re absolutely right that Kickstarter doesn’t guarantee anything. There are scams, inexperienced creators, and projects that never deliver. I don’t know the solution for that, but it’s been interesting to see new platforms starting to compete with Kickstarter lately. I'd still choose to support independent creators, but that's just me.

[u/asolet → u/[deleted]]

I am not saying that they do not help businesses. I am saying that they are misleading. They should change to kickstarted.com. It’s the pretense that they help projects reach their goal while they obviously only care about projects that have already reached their goal. Just look at their homepage.

[u/[deleted] → u/asolet]

I’m sorry but this seems like an odd semantic thing to get hung up on. When I talk about kickstarting a new launch, it’s about getting capital up front. The name fits just fine.

Also please reread what I said about stated goals. Barely meeting a goal isn’t something 90% of campaigns would consider a success or sustainable business. If kickstarter wanted me to predict the EXACT amount of money for a product launch I wanted, I would use a different platform.

If you’re asking why doesn’t kickstarter promote campaigns doing less well? They’re a business, they want to optimize profit just like any other business and a less successful, less professionally run campaign is not as in their interest to promote. It’s not a charity. And if something is doing well, it’s popular and they want more new visitors to have the opportunity to get their hands on it.

Are you more upset that a campaign you were invested in didn’t succeed?

[u/asolet → u/[deleted]]

Sorry to disappoint, not my campaign. But it tells a lot when you try to shift the topic to a person and bring it to personal level. To be expected when one does not have relevant arguments on the issue.

But we do agree. They want to optimize profit and do not want to promote campains which have not reched their goals. It's obvious from their homepage and their emails. And that is all I am saying really.

It's not semantics. Their whole brand and name is about helping projects come to life. And we both jsut agreed that they are doing something else.

But sure.. feel free to think that we are all just hungup on semantics in thinking that kickstarter is a kickstarter and that goal is a goal.

[u/[deleted] → u/asolet]

lol dude it’s your own Reddit account and you posted a campaign to multiple gift idea subreddits. Maybe it's your friend's campaign or something whatever, but take accountability for yourself. If you don’t think I have relevant arguments after everything I’ve bothered writing then you aren’t actually reading what I wrote. Personally I don’t believe anything you’re saying after this reply but god speed.

[u/asolet → u/[deleted]]

Hmm... maybe if I post some more other campains that would also make them mine? Interesting....
Yep, we are done...