zuiko85
Veteran
Kickstarter may have started with a more noble purpose, to give artists and small developers of ideas and products a funding source. Ideas for products that traditional investment money was unavailable. So, let the ‘crowd’ decide, thus the term “crowdfunding”.
Unfortunately the ‘crowd’ are just not equipped to evaluate viability or honesty of potential creators of these projects. Often there is simply not sufficient information obtainable to make an informed decision.
So.....you go with your gut. Your gut and your desire for the item, whatever that is.
I’ve come to realize that most photographic hardware related campaigns are woefully underfunded and/or estimated timelines to completion wishful thinking.
I really don’t think most creators start out with bad intentions. But when their projects go south, and their only response to backers is to clam up and go dark. Then you can understand the anger backers feel.
I have noticed that campaigns that are too successful, with thousands of backers, seem to have rather more problem delivering on promises.
Kickstarter does not do a good job of apprising potential backers of the risks. Obviously they don’t wish to ‘bite the hand that feeds them’ and a casual reading of their terms of service could lead backers to think they are protected in some way from total loss of the funds they sent to the campaign.
I would like to see a third party compile a list of projects platformed on Kickstarter and make a spreadsheet showing how they turned out. When the precentages of successful vs problematic outcomes are compared I wonder if it would have an impact on their business.
Unfortunately the ‘crowd’ are just not equipped to evaluate viability or honesty of potential creators of these projects. Often there is simply not sufficient information obtainable to make an informed decision.
So.....you go with your gut. Your gut and your desire for the item, whatever that is.
I’ve come to realize that most photographic hardware related campaigns are woefully underfunded and/or estimated timelines to completion wishful thinking.
I really don’t think most creators start out with bad intentions. But when their projects go south, and their only response to backers is to clam up and go dark. Then you can understand the anger backers feel.
I have noticed that campaigns that are too successful, with thousands of backers, seem to have rather more problem delivering on promises.
Kickstarter does not do a good job of apprising potential backers of the risks. Obviously they don’t wish to ‘bite the hand that feeds them’ and a casual reading of their terms of service could lead backers to think they are protected in some way from total loss of the funds they sent to the campaign.
I would like to see a third party compile a list of projects platformed on Kickstarter and make a spreadsheet showing how they turned out. When the precentages of successful vs problematic outcomes are compared I wonder if it would have an impact on their business.
