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Your opinion, Rewards you like and don't like?

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Your opinion, Rewards you like and don't like?
« on: July 26, 2012, 04:40:00 AM »
 

4pm Designer

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As more and more Kickstarters come up, and come down, the rewards are seemingly universal. When we launched The Grid Bicycle Deck we tried to bring new things to the campaign and some were hit and miss. So I figured I'd ask you all.

What were the good, the bad, and some new rewards you would like to see on kickstarter Playing Card campaigns?

DISCUSS!
Creator of Legacy, The Grid, Grid 2.0 & Mythos: Necronomicon Bicycle® Playing Cards. CEO of 4PM DESIGNS.
 

Re: Your opinion, Rewards you like and don't like?
« Reply #1 on: July 26, 2012, 05:05:56 AM »
 

xela

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I'd like to see KS itself allow for more formatting with rewards, and for them to be listed in rows/columns as opposed to just one column.

I'd really like to separate international rewards from domestic ones. It's annoying how cluttered everything gets because each reward has to say some stupid shipping clause.

However that's slightly unrelated to what you're asking.

I'd like to see more creative approaches to the rewards. One thing I don't care about are superfluous products like uncuts, clips, etc. I want to see something like shirts with gaffe tie-ins to the deck itself. I want to see things like having a custom court card made in someone's image under the theme of the deck. I love rewards that get priority shipping, and this is especially handy on KS.

In the end though, there isn't much need for a large diversity in rewards. I learned this from my KS and if I had gotten the chance to do it over, I'd nix any non-deck rewards period.

Seriously, people just want cards. If you want to offer things and get extra cash in the process, offer reward increases for breaching certain goals. For example, if you reach $40k everyone gets a free shirt, if you reach $50k everyone gets an uncut sheet free, etc.

It pushes people to pledge more, it keeps your rewards list clean and simple, and if you do breach those goals, new pledges will look at your project and see that they not only get the listed reward but also the bonus reward at that point, drawing them in even more quickly.

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Re: Your opinion, Rewards you like and don't like?
« Reply #2 on: July 26, 2012, 05:14:22 AM »
 

4pm Designer

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I would definitely love to see kickstarter more organized in that manner. Helps when keeping track of rewards and with backers being able to find a pledge level they are looking for instead of having to scroll through endless rewards.
Creator of Legacy, The Grid, Grid 2.0 & Mythos: Necronomicon Bicycle® Playing Cards. CEO of 4PM DESIGNS.
 

Re: Your opinion, Rewards you like and don't like?
« Reply #3 on: July 26, 2012, 08:51:07 AM »
 

Don Boyer

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I like Alex's idea about bonus rewards.  T-shirts are a cool idea as well, especially AoS patterns.


I like the idea of clips, but rather than deck-themed clips, why not just plain ones?  Let's face it, someone buys six of your decks, sooner or later they get used up, and maybe he'll want to use that clip on a different deck.  Ecos, Porpers...unique COLORS are great, too.


Posters, art prints, etc. - I was never a fan of them.  There's only so many places in any home to hang these things.


How's this for an overfunding bonus - gaff cards.  I loved the extra gaffs for the Watcher deck and Blaine's Split Spades Lions in red and blue.  Yes, it would involve a extra print run, but USPC might be able to make you a deal.  On a sheet of 56, you could make 5, 6, 7, 9, 12, 14, 18 or more gaffs for each deck sold - they can all be unique or you can make duplicates of some, since gaffs get used and wear out.  Make them exclusive to the KS funders.  Card collectors also like little extras like that when they aren't available for retail sale.
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Re: Your opinion, Rewards you like and don't like?
« Reply #4 on: July 26, 2012, 09:29:12 AM »
 

4pm Designer

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I would have loved to have released a gaff deck version of The Grid. Especially because the mini Uncuts had a great response when it came to the 8 gaff cards I designed called the Reboot Gaffs. I was entertaining the idea of launching a kickstarter of The Grid gaff deck featuring an onslaught of gaff cards but I'm unsure how the response would be. Something like a 2,500 run. I've seen ellusionist release gaff decks but the prices are steep, so I'm not sure how well an independent custom deck would do.
Creator of Legacy, The Grid, Grid 2.0 & Mythos: Necronomicon Bicycle® Playing Cards. CEO of 4PM DESIGNS.
 

Re: Your opinion, Rewards you like and don't like?
« Reply #5 on: July 26, 2012, 09:50:26 AM »
 

Paul Carpenter

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Having done the process of organizing all those rewards and getting them out there, my personal opinion is:

It's all a gimmick, and people just want the cards. Those extra things might bring in a tiny fraction of people or more likely just get a small number of people who already back the project to move around their reward level, but the complication those all add is intense.

If I do Kickstarter again (and it's not looking likely) I will make things VERY simple, not allow the customization I did for Tendril and offer up extras and special things in my own store. Compared to straight up selling a product in your own store, the Kickstarter model adds about 2-3x the complication IMO and often for a small gain. Don't get me wrong, Kickstarter is great and made my little business possible, but for me it was just that, a kickstart and hopefully not a place I need to hang out.
Paul Carpenter
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Tendril Ascendant & Nightfall  /  Standards /  Chancellor, Zenith, Deco, Aurum, Tendril: Sold Out
 

Re: Your opinion, Rewards you like and don't like?
« Reply #6 on: July 26, 2012, 09:59:12 AM »
 

Don Boyer

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I would have loved to have released a gaff deck version of The Grid. Especially because the mini Uncuts had a great response when it came to the 8 gaff cards I designed called the Reboot Gaffs. I was entertaining the idea of launching a kickstarter of The Grid gaff deck featuring an onslaught of gaff cards but I'm unsure how the response would be. Something like a 2,500 run. I've seen ellusionist release gaff decks but the prices are steep, so I'm not sure how well an independent custom deck would do.


They paid designers - you ARE the designer!


But don't be so quick to go for a full-sized gaff deck.  It will only have an appeal to people you sold a lot to already - unless you still have MANY leftover decks that will be on sale.  E can do it because the decks they're selling gaffs for are regular inventory, almost always in stock.


Using it for a new deck, and offering a limited-size packet, makes more sense.  Especially if you can keep that deck in stock for a good while.  Larger print run, perhaps?  It will lower the per-deck costs.


Having done the process of organizing all those rewards and getting them out there, my personal opinion is:

It's all a gimmick, and people just want the cards. Those extra things might bring in a tiny fraction of people or more likely just get a small number of people who already back the project to move around their reward level, but the complication those all add is intense.

If I do Kickstarter again (and it's not looking likely) I will make things VERY simple, not allow the customization I did for Tendril and offer up extras and special things in my own store. Compared to straight up selling a product in your own store, the Kickstarter model adds about 2-3x the complication IMO and often for a small gain. Don't get me wrong, Kickstarter is great and made my little business possible, but for me it was just that, a kickstart and hopefully not a place I need to hang out.


These are ALL excellent point, really.  If you got enough funds from your first Kickstarter, use some of them for your second project and avoid the Kickstarter hassles.
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Re: Your opinion, Rewards you like and don't like?
« Reply #7 on: July 26, 2012, 10:44:06 AM »
 

4pm Designer

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Honestly, kickstarter wasn't really a hassle. The website as a whole could be better organized but overall it wasn't as horrible as it originally seemed. Luckily for me this isn't my first rodeo when it comes to running a business as this is the 2nd company I founded and am currently running, so putting in the work wasn't new. It was the prep which was the hassle as this was a first for me in this field.

Rewards are without a doubt a gimmick but in they end they could pay off, literally. It's all marketing. Sure you go to McDonald's for those tastey nuggets and Big Mac, but what's an extra $1 for that collectible cup?  You don't go there for the cup (in most cases) you go there for the food, but it's the marketing of that add on which pushes you to put out that extra $1. Look at my Grid campaign, if I sold just the deck, the kickstarter would've maxed out at approx. $40k, (and I was selling decks starting at $7/8, which i believe is one of the cheapest KS decks) but I raised over $47k and broke some records. I'm sure others like Brimstone and Revisions could of done the same, if not more, but they only focused on the cards. Which is absolutely fine. But if you would enjoy seeing some decent profit, which is usually the point of any startup no matter how much you enjoy producing the product, you have to put in the work and work some marketing.

As for the Gaffs, I am going to look into it for our upcoming deck. Time to do some digging.
« Last Edit: July 26, 2012, 11:02:37 AM by 4pm Designer »
Creator of Legacy, The Grid, Grid 2.0 & Mythos: Necronomicon Bicycle® Playing Cards. CEO of 4PM DESIGNS.
 

Re: Your opinion, Rewards you like and don't like?
« Reply #8 on: July 26, 2012, 11:59:19 AM »
 

Paul Carpenter

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Honestly, kickstarter wasn't really a hassle. The website as a whole could be better organized but overall it wasn't as horrible as it originally seemed. Luckily for me this isn't my first rodeo when it comes to running a business as this is the 2nd company I founded and am currently running, so putting in the work wasn't new. It was the prep which was the hassle as this was a first for me in this field.

For me, setting up the project was easy, it was the managing the survey results and compiling all that into a process that would expedite the fulfillment end. They really make that hard (like not being able to simply download all your surveys at once, or having to manually determine what changed if you download an incomplete survey and then have more responses later). That stuff was super annoying and wasted a lot of time. Toss in the 100+ reward customizations to keep track of, and the dozens of changed addresses and you quickly have 3-4 pieces of information for certain people in different places to correlate. I didnt enjoy that part.
Paul Carpenter
Designer - http://encarded.com

Tendril Ascendant & Nightfall  /  Standards /  Chancellor, Zenith, Deco, Aurum, Tendril: Sold Out
 

Re: Your opinion, Rewards you like and don't like?
« Reply #9 on: July 26, 2012, 02:41:20 PM »
 

John B.

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I think that if you do have a store you plan to sell stuff off after wards have any extras on there and maybe offer a one-time discount if you spend so much. other then keep it basic. though I only pledged as much for the Vortex because of the art piece, which ended up not working out.  :(
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Re: Your opinion, Rewards you like and don't like?
« Reply #10 on: July 26, 2012, 05:21:23 PM »
 

4pm Designer

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Those spreadsheets are dreadful. Kickstarter really needs to reformat those. In the end, I just made my own.
Creator of Legacy, The Grid, Grid 2.0 & Mythos: Necronomicon Bicycle® Playing Cards. CEO of 4PM DESIGNS.