Are you wondering what it’s going to cost to fulfill your Kickstarter rewards?
In this post, I’ll walk you through some of the things that you should be aware of when it comes to pledges, fulfillment, and shipping.
We’ll get into some of the items you need to have at the top of your mind, as well as a resource that you can use to figure out your shipping costs.
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I’ve outlined Kickstarter fulfillment costs into three general phases to demonstrate what it’s going to take for a successful launch. Let’s get started.
Pledges
Kickstarter Fee. First off, there will be the 5% Kickstarter fee that the site takes from every credit card that’s been charged. What’s important to note here is that there will be failed credit cards, which could make up a relatively decent portion of your campaign. You should budget for this expense, as you may not be able to collect all the money that’s been pledged.
Survey Software. You will likely have to pay for survey software to gather information on the customers that have pledged money.
Credit Card Processing. This is the fee that’s charged to process all the different credit cards that have put money in your account. This amount will vary from campaign to campaign.
Fulfillment
I’ve partnered with a company called Fulfillrite that can answer all of your shipping and fulfillment questions; they can serve as a turnkey solution for anyone that is serious about making their campaign promises come true.
Pick and Pack. If you are doing your own fulfillment, you have to budget your time for processing the products for your backers. I always recommend addressing your opportunity cost of your time; if you make $40 an hour at your traditional job, then you should equate that into the time you are spending on your campaign.
Storage. If you have a large amount of backers, you may not be able to fit all your products in your garage. You could have to rent out a facility or co-working space in order to have room for all these products. Additionally, if you have different items being sent to you for assembly, you have to have the space to manufacture those items. I have great examples of success stories surrounding this on my Podcast, which I would encourage you to check out.
Maintenance. When you are getting all these products shipped to you, you have to sort through the items and data from Kickstarter that corresponds to the individuals that have claimed rewards for their donations. You have to be aware of add-ons or variations to sync up your customer lists and organize your products to be ready for shipping.
Volume/Time. Because there is so much that goes on behind the scenes to make a successful fulfillment stage, this is a great time to call upon friends or Fulfillrite to help manage the time it will take to deal with the volume of products you have to send out to customers.
Postage
Weight/Size/Distance. You may want to experiment with ways to make your package lighter or smaller, as shipping to different customers around the globe can really begin to add up with heavier loads. This requires some creative thinking and innovation, but can save you tons of money in the long run.
Delivery. You have to consider how quickly you want your packages to be delivered. There are many ways to do this, and I have seen people do it on their own with Excel Spreadsheets, but I would recommend using Fulfillrite’s Shipping Calculator. It doesn’t cost anything to open an account with them; you can get an estimate for shipping risk-free.
Other Considerations
Taxes. Eventually, you will have to pay taxes on the money that you’ve raised. While this will not be an initial cost, it’s important to note that the money will be coming out down the line.
Laws. Especially if you are shipping items internationally, you should be considerate of laws that may vary surrounding shipping your product.
Manufacturing Errors. Keep in mind that this is a complicated process, and that things may go wrong with the shipping and assembly of your product. You’ll have to revisit your spreadsheets to plan for scenarios that could derail your fulfillment stage.
