KickstarterForum.org

Hi, I'm Stephen. I've been working with leather for about four years now and discovered the Kickstarter website about four months ago. I was amazed to see the range of quality of Kickstarter user projects. This brought me to want to ask those who frequent the Kickstarter site- How many Kickstarter creators do you think start projects just for the money and how many Kickstarter creators do you think genuinely want to create products and grow their businesses?

Please do not post links to Kickstarter campaigns that you feel are disingenuous. This is not intended to be a slanderous forum post.

Hmm very difficult to say. I'm not sure to be honest. The ones that just want to make money and put together a low quality campaign are pretty noticeable. The harder ones to spot are those that put together a high quality campaign and have an iffy product or are reselling a product from Alibaba or something and people don't realize it.

Regardless, people don't make much profit on campaigns (due to the cost of shipping out rewards). The ones that "make a huge paycheck" tend to be the ones that scam backers I think and don't deliver on the product.

Getting your dream and vision funded is a heck of a lot better than getting a paycheck and more worth while to pursue. I think a majority of the campaigns (at least the ones i've seen) are genuine. A lot of people trying to get their visions funded. Plus, if you don't deliver what you promised, there's nil chance in successfully launching another campaign.

I'm in it for the cash!

I'm serious.

And this cash allows me to create more products to sell ...to get more cash ...and so on.

The great thing about it is...

It's a kind of self-selecting system. You've got to produce something people want. in fact, you've got to produce something people want so much ...they have an overwhelming desire to hand over their cash to you.

Case in point:

I've lost count of the number of times I reveal a new prototype on my blog ...and then I get comments such as, "Take money money!". (yes, they literally say exactly that)

I'm pretty sure they couldn't care less whether I'm doing it for the money or not (I am doing it for the money). They just want the cool stuff I make. But, hey, I'm no different from any other business out there.

It's a kind of self-selecting system. You've got to produce something people want. in fact, you've got to produce something people want so much ...they have an overwhelming desire to hand over their cash to you.

Good point. You need to create value in the world if you want people to pay for it, which benefits them and you at the same time. #capitalism

As long as you are putting your all into creating awesome products or rendering awesome services, I think it's okay to be in it for the cash. Cash can buy a better quality of life for your family (which in turn helps another person, who is selling the higher quality of life, and etc). Interesting and complex economic system.

There is nothing wrong about creating projects to earn money. That is what Kickstarter is for and there are a lot of great ideas and projects that people do. However, there are the people who scam or cheat the system. Since I found out about Kickstarter I have seen so many creative ideas that only small teams and individuals could think up. I think its awesome. Browsing the Kickstarter site is somewhat addicting!

Manbird wrote:Getting your dream and vision funded is a heck of a lot better than getting a paycheck and more worth while to pursue. I think a majority of the campaigns (at least the ones i've seen) are genuine. A lot of people trying to get their visions funded. Plus, if you don't deliver what you promised, there's nil chance in successfully launching another campaign.

Have you experienced someone not delivering what her or she promised, and how often do you think that happens?

I've heard of backers who are unsatisfied after the project dies a slow death, or extends itself for a while. But most deliver. Backers understand it's a risk, but I guess that kind of got lost in the popularity of Kickstarter.

Having looked through so many projects, I think the great majority of them out there are truly in it for their project dream.

I think
#1 It will really show-through on whether or not someone has a serious passion for their project.
#2 Most of those who would be in it just for the money will probably not have a rare concept. They probably just hopped on a bandwagon. So, they're probably in a pool with so many others, and will most likely be turned off from producing a proper campaign once they realize how much work it really takes to do it well and to actually OBTAIN that money.

I believe that, for most of those hopeful-money-makers, they are going to find it difficult to come out on top, and are probably in the few. However, there is no doubt in my mind that they're out there.

Ryan