Why Kickstarter is bad for Christmas Gifts

Don’t get me wrong. I love Kickstarter. I spend too much money there. I almost buy something everyday and have 2 projects I’m patiently awaiting the arrival of. But now that Christmas and the season of gift giving is upon us it’s important for people, especially first-time Kickstarter users, to know that the release dates are not always reliable. It’s nothing against the creators or the products. It comes down to something that people seem to forget: Kickstarter isn’t a store where you buy things. It’s a place where you show your support for projects and you get rewarded for that support.

There was a lengthly and fantastic discussion all about Kickstarter and the mindset of sellers and backers on The Pen Addict recently. In my opinion, there should be a different mindset from going to the store and buying (or even pre-ordering) something. By backing someone’s project, you’re saying, “I believe in this, I think it’s going to be great, and I want to see it succeed.” By doing that you get a behind-the-scenes look at how the project is being run, how  the product is getting made and any issues that crop up. You also get first dibs on the product.

It’s because of this that you can’t necessarily rely on the ship date; there is likely some extra time built in, but also a bit of optimism, especially if the project is wildly popular. I’m not saying this to dissuade you from using Kickstarter; quite the contrary. You get a unique look at things, but some patience is required. If you order something, don’t expect that it will come as soon as you’d like it to. That’s not to say you can’t give someone an IOU; I did that for my brother last year. I printed out the page and but it in an envelop, then explained the gift to him. But that’s not as fun as watch someone open an actual gift.

So I know, the title was a bit link-baity; but here are my thoughts, in a nice bulleted list:

• Kickstarter is great! Use it to support projects you believe in.
• Be weary of the ship date. Cautious optimism is required, but if you need it by a certain date (like Christmas), don’t rely on it.
• Have patience! In most cases, the creators are just as anxious as you, maybe more.
• Remember Kickstarter isn’t as much a store as it a place to show your support for things you think should exist.