KickstarterForum.org

Ok, it was tricky putting what i meant into the subject box, but heres the jam:

I want to start a low profit ( i already have a well paying job ) resale business, reselling hard to source or expensive in low quantity, items, materials and technology.


One such example is carbon electrodes and MMO electrodes.
currently they sell for 10-50x their actual values and as it is are difficult to source.

What i would want to do, is buy them in bulk and sell them more reasonably. carbon rods shouldnt need to cost more than a dollar or so for a 5x100mm rod, they do disintegrate with use after all. the actual value of said rod would be between 10-30 cents.
As with MMO mesh electrodes, they cost about $15 to build, but often sell for $100-500, treated like platinum even though its a cheap alternative to platinum, that was the whole point. reasonably, $40-50 would be a fair price.

The point of the service would be sourcing these difficult to find materials from manufacturers, i have a fair few connections with numerous wholesalers and manufacturers, i can find things that arent advertised anywhere.

I would make a bulk buy, so that i can sell at a fair price based on the actual wholesaler/manufacturer price, and not what the absolute maximum is that people will pay.
Also, i would throw in various info about the products, such as for thermochromic pigment, very little is known about it, technically speaking, i have been undergoing various compatibility and lifespan tests for over year now to figure out the do's and donts, as the manufacturers wont disclose the "secret" chemical makeup.
I also make instructables, so, i would include those i have made or related ones to each product.

As for the whole profit situation, when i say low profit, i mean money that leaves the business circle and goes into my pocket, other profits would be pooled and used to buy even more new things. Of course im going to want something for my efforts, but unless i was making over $300 in profits per week i could take for myself, and still make the business grow, thered be no real point.
For the time being its just a hobby.


So, what i want to ask, is can i crowdfund the funds for a mass bulk buy of a list of items i will need before i can open the web store?

at the top of the list is all colors of the main effect pigments, chameleon, thermochromic in various temperature ranges and colors and photochromics, plus depending on how much funds i get i may be able to get electroactive ink , and then there is the all important hard to source, acrylic medium, which i will probably have to make myself, extracting it from paint since common mediums arent entirely suitable.

Im not entirely sure what i could offer backers, but, since the whole point is to initially get all the items in bulk lots, even if it meant returning half the money i received in funding, in their choice of items, that remaining half would be enough to get the project off the ground.

are there any issues with this?

As long as your project doesn't include rewards that are prohibited by Kickstarter, yes. See: https://www.kickstarter.com/rules/prohibited

So its fine to ask for money for a resale business, just not to give the resold items as the rewards.

In that case I should probably give one product I planned to make though separate to the project, then as rewards, the persons choice of a large piece of fabrics c with a roarschach ink blotch on it in thermochromic paint or some premixed paint, would that be OK?