KickstarterForum.org

Hi there!! I have a crucial question, when you're backing a project. Are you more likely to back up a project where the Rewards have shipping cost included, yes or no? Or For international backers, would you prefer adding the shipping cost while pledging or pay after project success?

Wurfel,
This is a very god question. I think most people, of course, would like to have shipping included. But, you have to be realistic with your project and how much you are producing it for. It's always the selling price. But what are you selling? Don't forget to add in packing/boxing fees, Kickstarter/Amazon Fees. Then in the end, what's the result? Shipping is one of the biggest costs in figuring out costs on your campaign.

On the International shipping I've seen it a lot of ways, but mostly it's an add on within the reward section. Like I said, shipping is one of the biggest expenses. So it's up to each project.

Personally, as a backer I look at it like I'm buying anything online, it doesn't matter if shipping is included or not. Whether the price of the item is inflated to include shipping, or if the price is set then add shipping costs, I look at the total costs and make a judgement from there.

I've have yet to run a campaign, but I wasn't aware that you can add additional charges for shipping. Can you? In any case, I would set it up such that the cost of the item plus shipping is all shown upfront.

Hi JayRM,

Thanks for responding to this thread. I decided to include the free shipping within the local country, and for international shipping, one can add when they're pledging to the reward. I wanted to see if maybe including the international shipping fee made things more inviting for international backers.

Hi Dale,

Thanks for your great suggestion! I followed your advice and did add everything up, and you're right it does come down to that. Yes, I mostly see KS project just have the add on for international shipping so I reckon I am going to stick with that. I was thinking of just having world wide shipping for everyone and make it easy and equal for all, but not entirely sure yet, what do you think ?. To answer your questions, my project link preview is in my signature. I am still working on it and getting additional feedback before I go live. Have been getting positive suggestions on it from backers and others which is great. Thanks again for responding to this thread as it helped!

Hi wurfel,

I had the same question about shipping so thanks for asking the question. I looked at your preview page and it looks good, just that you are using a lot of the same images in the page (that might be updated when you go live). On the positive, your sunnies look relatively small and lightweight so hopefully shipping wont be too painful. Something I'm considering is subsidising some of the shipping for international orders, once I know the weight and postage method of what I'm kickstarting. Anyway it seems like a good idea to set realistic shipping costs, rather than underestimate and lose out

Jen

Hi Jen,

Thank you for looking at my preview project, and like your feedback too. I think you're right about the images, I'll have to update before going live. It's always goo to get feedback from others. I posted this same question in a FB group, and the general Kickstarter backers say the same thing, they prefer having "free shipping" within their local country. And with international shipping, to have that added during pledging, Backers feel comfortable knowing what they're paying at that moment. Anyways, I wanted to share the knowledge I had as getting feedback from others can take awhile. I agree, everything has been calculated you're not losing out. Thanks again for checking out my project and responding to this thread!

I like the idea of subsidizing the shipping cost on international backers. Shipping costs seem to be the biggest hurdle in getting the project all together. Our light is large to ship but we're giving free shipping to the lower 48 states. I'm thinking of reducing the shipping to international as they are almost 1/3 of our backers on previous projects.

Yea, I would be more likely to back a project if shipping costs are included. I agree, it's difficult to do if you are expecting people to pledge from around the world.

Either way works, but you have to consider that, for shipping to countries outside of your own, the shipping cost will be more expensive than within your own. That being said, should people within the country have to pay the same as others internationally? When I looked at shipping costs for my merchandise, most cost an additional 15-20 to ship internationally! People who internationally support projects have to expect that they will be paying more for shipping, unfortunately.



www.kickstarter.com/projects/101623740/ ... -of-trayth