Playing Cards Deconstructed with Royal Pips (KS)

[badpete69]

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/334995323/playing-cards-deconstructed-with-royal-pips

[Don Boyer]

Hmm.  Pass.  Not digging the deconstructed look.  Pips are meant to be simple.

[BiggerDee]

Not to mention a mere $7,500 goal for USPCC printing. Red flags are a flyin'.

[PurpleIce]

Puts card on dart board...throws dart... "We'll use this spot over here for the clubs..." Repeat Process.

[Marcus]

I don't mind pips being more intricate than the standard ones, but this design was definitely not my cup of tea. The shape and size of the pips, the color scheme for the box (I'm not even a big fan of the standard courts or their colors).. No, this wasn't for me.

[tomas]

this is my KS project
what's the red flag about uspcc $7,500?
i have pricing from them for 2,500 decks, it's roughly a break even point.
tomas

[Don Boyer]

this is my KS project
what's the red flag about uspcc $7,500?
i have pricing from them for 2,500 decks, it's roughly a break even point.
tomas

Have you accounted for the percentage that Kickstarter takes?  The percentage that Amazon takes?  The cost of shipping materials?  The cost of postage?  The time and effort spent by you and anyone assisting you - or, alternately, the cost of a fulfillment center to do all that work for you?  Do you know what it will cost you to ship at each and every tier, and have you made allowances?  You can end up not raising enough money to pay for the decks.  You can also end up having enough to print them, but not enough to ship them to your backers.  If this project doesn't succeed by a WIDE margin, you could have a serious financial problem on your hands - you would be financially responsible for fulfilling all the rewards or refunding all the cash raised.  There's already one case working its way through the New York State court system of a card project creator failing to deliver and not returning the funds.

At $10,000, there are 2,500-deck print run projects that manage to barely squeak by.  At $7,500, it's looking like you're cutting it too close to the bone.

[Marcus]

Yeah, $7,500 for 2,500 decks (minimum amount for a print-run at USPCC) is $3 per deck. I can't see how that's going to cover all the bases Don mentioned. That hardly covers the cost to just print the decks, let alone any shipping costs or fees along the way. Meaning $7,500 is the minimum you'll need to spend to even get any decks printed. Say you get 625 backers for the $12 per deck level. That means you're receiving funding for $7,500 that is meant to cover deck cost and shipping quotes for those 625 decks. Problem is, you'll need to use pretty much all of the $7,500 to even get any decks printed, leaving you with no money left for shipping those 625 decks to the backers.

[Don Boyer]

Yeah, $7,500 for 2,500 decks (minimum amount for a print-run at USPCC) is $3 per deck. I can't see how that's going to cover all the bases Don mentioned. That hardly covers the cost to just print the decks, let alone any shipping costs or fees along the way. Meaning $7,500 is the minimum you'll need to spend to even get any decks printed. Say you get 625 backers for the $12 per deck level. That means you're receiving funding for $7,500 that is meant to cover deck cost and shipping quotes for those 625 decks. Problem is, you'll need to use pretty much all of the $7,500 to even get any decks printed, leaving you with no money left for shipping those 625 decks to the backers.

Tomas, the best advice anyone could give you at this point would be to shut down the project, really do the math, then come back with a new project that has more realistic numbers.  Marcus is right - unless your project is a blowout success, you're going to have a serious mess on your hands.  Judging from present funding levels, you stand a good chance of getting funded, but NOT at the levels needed to cover all the related costs.

[tomas]

I appreciate your concern, but I did run a spreadsheet on this project.
The price per deck is $2.16, not $3.00, so the print cost is $6,250 including all setup fees.
$7,500 is reduced to $6,900 after Amazon and KS cuts, and I estimate $650 for shipping at a minimum funding level.

You are absolutely correct: there is no profit at all at $7,500 and I work for free.
Practically speaking, with all the work required for fulfillment, one works for free until the $10K level.
Shipping the number of packages at the minimum level does not require the fulfillment center, I've done that before.
It's a lot of work, true, but it's manageable.
 
This is my first deck on KS, so I don't mind going through the learning experience.
I fulfilled all orders on another KS project, which involved a very complicated engineering in China with many prototypes.
I run a large pre-press operation earlier in my life, so I'm extremely confident in handling any print issues.

Your point is still valid: until we hit $12K or so it's a huge amount of work without any pay.

[Don Boyer]

Your point is still valid: until we hit $12K or so it's a huge amount of work without any pay.

I understand the desire to get the deck made and the willingness to sacrifice to get it done, but as a business model, it doesn't make any sense to go so lowball on a project estimate rather than simply setting a realistic goal and going for it.  It's not like you're competing for a government contract or something...  $12,000 is a much more realistic goal and tells people you're serious. have thought this through and have a head for business.

For your own sake, I hope you make that $12K, or failing that, miss your goal so you don't end up hundreds of dollars in debt after all that work fulfilling the project.

[tomas]

Don,

I have a very extensive experience in business
https://www.linkedin.com/in/santoren

I understand and appreciate your points, but you don't have to worry about me or my ability to fulfill this order.
The business model is based on bringing a large group of satisfied collectors to my future decks, and break-even issues on the first one are not important.

We'll make go/no-go decisions later in the campaign, it's too early to see where it's going.

[Don Boyer]

Tomas, I'm glad to hear it.  Best of luck with your project!