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Kickstarter Card Projects Business Questions

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Kickstarter Card Projects Business Questions
« on: April 14, 2014, 02:18:15 PM »
 

CthulhuWho1

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Greetings from Fullerton, California!

I'm looking for general or specific business-side advice on the things that need to be put in place, or done to make a Kickstarter card deck project run as smoothly as possible.

There are many people here who've created and shipped amazing decks of cards; and I'd like to know what each of you can say about the behind-the-scenes processes and lessons you have learned, and are willing to share.

As I work on my first deck for an upcoming Kickstarter project (code named "Harthaven"), I'm also mentally working up a list of all of the things I need to do between the time I finish my artwork, and the time I actually go live on Kickstarter.

I have all of the current USPCC info packets, including the Kickstarter Custom Decks information, plus the Bicycle templates, and my first two Custom Quotes for branded and unbranded decks, thanks to Tiffany Mahan.

I've been reading all of the postings I can online that discuss costs, fees, taxes, and resources (a very special Thanks to Jackson Robinson); plus looking carefully at any pictures that are posted showing packaging and shipping containers.

I've been making notes on all of the types of packages I receive decks of cards in, including the names of the companies that produced the postage/shipping labels (Endicia, Stamps.com, etc.).

I've been reviewing and pricing Label printers, packaging materials (Uline!),and methods.

And it is my intention to set up an LLC (Limited Liability Company) under the name, Harthaven, LLC; so I can set up a business account and credit/debit card with Wells Fargo Bank and Amazon to keep all of the financial records related to the playing cards I plan on offering separate from my personal finances and taxes.

It is also my intention to have all of my artwork finalized and approved by the USPCC (including the Legal Department approval to display the Bicycle Logo items on Kickstarter) before I go public with my card decks; so there will be no delays to hold things up if my projects are successful.

And I will promote my cards on every card site, plus Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and on a web site that I will set up for after-Kickstarter sales too.

What can you add to the list of things it takes to make a smoother experience for everybody?

Many Thanks in Advance for your thoughts!

Will Hart
 

Re: Kickstarter Card Projects Business Questions
« Reply #1 on: April 15, 2014, 01:44:05 AM »
 

Don Boyer

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Having an LLC is a great idea.  But when putting the project on Kickstarter, use your name and not the company name.  It lets people know there's a flesh-and-blood person there putting the project together, and there have been others who used corporate names to hide behind as they were ripping off their backers, never delivering a finished deck.  Just ask anyone who's ever dealt with Altius Management (Bicycle Asylum) or the Department of Design (Founders).

The TOUGHEST part of a Kickstarter project is fulfillment, in terms of physical labor.  Funny you should mention Jackson, since he's now running a fulfillment service which caters to the playing card community.  I've heard of people using other companies to do the job but they don't generally understand the value and rarity of what they're handling and you tend to end up with a good deal of returned, damaged decks.  I think Murphy's Magic Supplies, a wholesaler out of California, also does fulfillment services.  I do know that for a fee, they can make gimmicked versions of your deck - stripped, invisible, forcing, Svengali, etc.  They do that for a company I know and the results are good quality.

Of course, you can save a few bucks and do it yourself, but it's a lot of work - if you make a very successful project, you could be waist deep in packaging materials and decks for a few weeks.  It's best to plan a work vacation around the time of your shipment arriving from USPC.  Those who didn't often caught hell from their backers as they tried tending to shipments only on weekends, nights, between classes, etc.  (It's why I'm always wary of a project launched by a kid in college - there's no way to know if he's scheduled the necessary time and they don't have the freedom to take a vacation when it pleases them.)  It always helps to have capable friends or relatives help in exchange for pizza and beer, as long as they don't get drunk and spill grease on the packages!  :))  Kidding, of course, but you get the idea.

Paul Carpenter has commented in the past that one of the most important things he does before launch is to take out a spreadsheet and account for every single possible cost he can run into.  As he describes it, it saves him a lot of hassle later and his estimates have been pretty accurate.

Oh, and most deck designers running a KS project will lose money on the one- and two-deck packages.  It's just how it is, when factoring in the costs of production and shipping.  You'll make it up in the larger packages.  Thus, do what it takes to encourage your backers to back for more decks - introduce a second color, a special edition, a trick version of the deck (marked or stripper are popular), add widgets that people want, etc.  Upsell the hell out of them.  Jackson Robinson's Federal 52 project started out as just a single deck and went on to become nearly a dozen decks spread out over two projects.  I'm thinking that he had far fewer single-deck buyers than most projects do!

Consider a service to help on the back end with the management of add-ons.  Again, Jackson is a good example of this.  He used Backerkit on the second Fed52 deck project, and I could tell that it was a godsend in that it allowed his backers a chance to spend EVEN MORE money on his stuff after the project was already closed - I personally took the plunge for a Spade t-shirt.  So despite the high numbers his project reached in KS, his actual take was somewhat higher than that!
« Last Edit: April 15, 2014, 01:45:08 AM by Don Boyer »
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Re: Kickstarter Card Projects Business Questions
« Reply #2 on: April 15, 2014, 02:33:15 AM »
 

CthulhuWho1

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Don,

   Having been given early retirement by a division of Rockwell, and having an already retired wife, means we both have plenty of time to work on fulfillment for a Kickstarter project; so we'll at least try doing this first project.  I'm still pondering Backerkit usage, so that is a possibility too.

   As far as a name on the Kickstarter card project, my full name, William E. Hart, along with my preference of being called "Will," and that I am also known as "CthulhuWho1," is going to be all over the project; while I'll explain that we call our home, "Harthaven," and want to use the name Harthaven in connection with the project as a way of saying that the cards are from our home to yours.  There will be a small note in the legal paragraph on the bottom of the tuck case, right before "Made in USA." that will say "Designed by William E. Hart of Harthaven."  And there will be a small "Harthaven 2014" right under the Ace of Spades pip too.

   The LLC part of the equation is to keep all monies from Kickstarter project separate and accounted for for expenses and taxes; and I will do everything I can to make sure that everyone interested gets to know me from my other online projects too.

   I'm not bringing anything Lovecraftian or Cthulhu related to my cards, but I am fairly well known on Flickr, YouTube, and my own CthulhuWho1.com blog as William E. Hart, Will Hart, and CthulhuWho1; where most of my efforts for the last few years have revolved around sharing all things Lovecraftian, including, documents, images, photographs, audio files, pulp magazine stories and my own readings of some of the works of H. P. Lovecraft too.

   You won't find anything related to cards on my online sites, but you just might be entertained by what you see and hear there.  Try the following three links and you'll get to know me better:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/cthulhuwho1/collections/
http://cthulhuwho1.com/
http://www.youtube.com/user/CthulhuWho1

But I promise there will be nothing related to those sites in the cards I will eventually unveil here!

Will Hart
« Last Edit: April 15, 2014, 02:35:00 AM by CthulhuWho1 »
 

Re: Kickstarter Card Projects Business Questions
« Reply #3 on: April 15, 2014, 06:40:36 AM »
 

Don Boyer

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It looks like you have all the bases well covered.  Insuring that your personal identity is attached to the project is going to make it more "real" and make it clear to backers that you're a man with a dream and not a faceless company.

If you're interested, I could take a look at the design for you when you're closer to completion.  I do consulting for designers.

One thing about designs on KS, something I'm sure you've seen - some people like to literally work on the fly, starting from scratch and creating the design as the campaign progresses.  Some like to get maybe halfway through, then launch.  If I was designing something to put on KS, I'd have it 95-100% finished, but be open to possible alterations.  It's a matter of listening to the backers - if enough people suggest a little change here or there, it's good to be open to the possibility of making said changes.  Having a small hand in the final design gives backers more of a vested interest in its success.

Best of luck and I can't wait to see what you have in store!

PS: congratulations on your retirement!  I would absolutely love to have more time with my wife in our retirement years.  You're a lucky man.
Card Illusionist, NYC Area
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Re: Kickstarter Card Projects Business Questions
« Reply #4 on: April 16, 2014, 02:51:55 AM »
 

CthulhuWho1

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Don,

Just for fun I'll mention that my wife and I are referring to my first deck as a "Maximalist Deck" response to all of the "Minimalist" decks we keep seeing on kickstarter.

And the only peek I've given anywhere to anyone is here on Playingcardforum.com at:
http://www.playingcardforum.com/playing-card-plethora/who-wants-to-win-a-deck-of-cards-actually-4-decks-of-cards/msg95671/#msg95671

But that's all I'll show for quite some time...

Will Hart