Would like to hear from others in regards to their experience on crowdfunding sites such as Kickstarter, Indiegogo and Gofundme.
I recently received 'The Dash' product from a german company called Bragi. They are an example of what professionals using this site can actually deliver. However I have also been scammed out of $100 before.
What is your view?
Agreed. I lost money as soon as I backed an individual, rather than a small company with some sort of a reputation.
Crowdfunding should be treated as an investment platform, not a pre-order system. As with all investments, they might pay off or they might fail.
The problem is that crowdfunding isn't an investment, you dont get a share of the company.
it is almost a donation.
Yepp
Essentially giving the company a risk free loan
Well, these days of crowdfunding is more like you help them to make their project "real" and you get the realized item instead of the stock of the company.
So, if you just spent $1~5 then it's really donation but if you get something back from them, I would say you are somewhat investing in here to get the outcome of the project.
@GameChanger: I can't say something about this. There's no guarantee that the company will bring the item or not. They do get into lawsuit though….
I've only ever backed reputable companies that have often released products in the past. The most important part is to remember that you're investing in a company with a possible return. It's not an online preordering platform.
I was one of the first Jide Remix OS backers and received it quite early. After the success of their Remix tablet I knew this was the real deal. Several updates a week with real images and videos was proof that they were legit.
I don't use crowd funding at all. Too risky.
Still waiting for proper manufacturers doing it though
They don't need to offer goods at discount prices in order to raise money for a project of theirs. They have enough capital as it is.
I think the problem with crowdfunding project is, there are too much uncertainty involved with the project.
You don't know when you will receive it (I've seen many manufacturers changing the dates and such due to "unforeseen circumstances").
You don't know what you will receive (I've heard about many crowdfunding products that have not met the expectations or promises).
You don't know whether you will receive it (a lot of crowdfunding projects stop midway through).
I personally think it's better to pay slightly more when it is properly released for that reason. After reviews of the product has been released so that you don't end up with a dud. Besides, many many products I've seen looked too good to be true.
I backed these guys:
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/349817406/le-petit-cart…
Worked out extremely well. Love my bag.
Their site is quite nice too:
http://leoetviolette.com/
It's been neat watching a company grow and evolve their products.
Naturally, I've seen some fumbles. I missed out time-wise on a denim company's bonus item from Kickstarter that took months to make more available.
Although that seems to have panned out much better over time as I own a few shirts from them now (https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/2117909685/dyer-and-jen…). That wasn't dreadful. The worst was a comapany that made a tacky glowing t shirt that responded to body heat for when you work out. Never received it and purchased concert tickets for my brother's birthday instead.
Yeah I do remember that project. They've mentioned that it could use to show what part is being exercised as it changes based on temperature.
Thought it was cool idea but then it was quite expensive so I didn't go with it.
Hope you got your money back without problem.
If the price is right I'm more willing to take a punt.
I've found that more often than not the intangible items (such as software) end up being the ones that fail.
I've had bad experience on KickStarter with poor communication and unable to refund for the technology that doesn't work as promised.
I would say, there's a point where you could say it is gambling as the most of the sites does not care about whether that products delivered or not.
I think it's more similar to purchasing "stock". You need to research whether the company / people working on the project has "capability" of delivering the product and whether the product could meet your "expectation"