Reply To: Large Kickstarters should be more open about shipping costs

[ced1106Participant 6224xp 1]

> Or more likely they “soaked up” the extra cost. This means that they “planed” for a possible extra cost and made the product more expensive…just in case. That does sound smart at first glance…but all it does is…you pay for something that might happen…and don´t get your money back if it does not.

That’s exactly it, at least in the states. Cthulhu Wars ran over budget, but didn’t charge backers extra. Because they padded into the pledge costs enough funding for expansions. Consumers actually have a terrible way of judging “perceived value” in a product, and can only compare prices.

So, to offer “free shipping” companies will increase the value of the product. If you’ve ordered for home delivery from a grocery, that’s why the online price of something will usually be higher than that of the store. You’re paying for shipping and handling, even if it’s not explicit.

Back to KS. Shipping costs *are* a mess, and I also buy a lot of KS offerings at retail instead. First up, you buy the product, er, make a pledge, before knowing how much you’re paying for shipping. When’s the last time you did that outside of KS??? Then, on the creator’s side, they collect shipping *months* or even years before shipping product. Shipping prices inevitably are going up, but the creator doesn’t know how much, and backers don’t like paying shipping twice. I mean, when’s the last time you had an epidemic (and stuck cargo ship) in the middle of a KS??? That’s obviously not good for the project, and can even put the entire project at risk.

That said, yeah, I’d like to see KS creators, at least experienced ones, do a better job with shipping estimates. CMON once only provided shipping estimates based on the base game, when they knew they’d be shipping almost twice as much stuff with the SG’s. After some backer response (eg. refunds for their Bloodborne KS where shipping jumped from $26 to $40 for yours truly), did CMON provide more accurate information.

I’m curious how much inaccurate shipping estimates really do affect a KS. I’ve only seen it explicitly for said Bloodborne KS. But I’m sure the overall unknown costs of shipping has turned away a potential backer, it’s just that this information of why someone didn’t back a KS isn’t measured.