Has anyone done a KickStarter for their Leather work?

[ToddW]

Just curious if anyone has any experience with KickStarter.  Just wanting opinions of it..

 

Todd

[Campleathergoods]

I went through the steps and might be able to answer any questions, although I ultimately did a gofundme instead.

[ToddW]

My question on it being a good channel to start.  One of the Youtube leather guys looks like he did a Kickstarter in 2016 and sold over 400 wallets that way but doesn't look like he has done one since.  I know you typically discount and Kickstarter takes their piece as well as the Credit Card take.   I am sure it whittles you down significantly on margin but moving 400+ wallets in a few weeks sounds like a decent volume.. no worse than selling wholesale.

[tsunkasapa]

Assuming I can do a wallet a day, how the hell am I going to sell 400?

[ToddW]

definitely going to require more than 1 wallet a day as well as some help sewing..  clicker them out, skive them and lots of sewing..

[tsunkasapa]

I don't 'clicker, and I only handsew, on purpose! I have absolutely no desire to be a 'factory'. The very thought is disgusting.

[ToddW]

I hand cut today and hand sew today, but definitely looking to get easier and more consistent. 

[tsunkasapa]

35+ years and I still do it all by hand. Anything else takes the CRAFT out of it. I have a sewing machine, and it is a great place to pile things.

[Gulrok]

51 minutes ago, tsunkasapa said:

35+ years and I still do it all by hand. Anything else takes the CRAFT out of it. I have a sewing machine, and it is a great place to pile things.

Maybe for you.

Not for a lot of us.

[Bert03241]

3 hours ago, tsunkasapa said:

I don't 'clicker, and I only handsew, on purpose! I have absolutely no desire to be a 'factory'. The very thought is disgusting.

[Handstitched]

Forgive the silly question, but what is ' Kickstarter' ?  Sounds like a business support  initiative,  funding etc. ?  

HS 

[ToddW]

Its a place where startups go to fund projects.  Its "kinda like" a go fund me but really project driven.  I bought a steak dry ager as well as a pizza oven.  Usually, its an early stage product that might need some refinement.  The project either funds and the person builds it or it does not and no money is collected.  It is a bit expensive as Kickstart takes a lot as well as the credit card processing.  Typically the product is deeply discounted making it a great deal and people buy.

Here is a wallet Parker did at Stock and Barallel.

 

 

[Handstitched]

Thanks for the info   

Nice wallets, but no way could I make 400 . I could make 4 at best in a week, in amongst all the other orders & stock I make. 

HS

[ToddW]

The volume can be huge.. A boot company I follow sold 1200 pairs in few weeks... 

400 wallets would have to involve help and long hours..  They would need to get built and shipped in a reasonable time or the returns would start happening and the opposite effect would happen. 

I was just curious if anyone here had experience.. I emailed Parker at Stock and Barrel and he didn't respond..  Just curious if it worked out and what the experience was like.

[ToddW]

If you click the balloon font'd K in the top left corner of the video, it was take you to the kickstarter project for the history..

[Tugadude]

I have some experience buying on Kickstarter, so maybe I can add some context here.  First of all, the platform isn't for most of us.  Even those who sell product here are still doing relatively small amounts of merchandise.  And most probably have no desire to expand exponentially, hire employees, train them, etc.  So there are probably a select few here that would even benefit from it.

What the platform is for are the entrepreneurs who have no capital and don't want to borrow from a lender.  Or take on investors.  The customers who purchase on Kickstarter ARE your investors.  Hence the name, they give your business a kickstart.  Most of the projects on Kickstarter I've followed actually outperform.  In other words, the seller expects to sell $20,000 worth of product for example and ends up selling in excess of that.  On the high end I recall one project (not a leather product) that hoped to raise $50,000 USD and actually sold 5 to 6 times that amount.  

There have been a number of leather projects on Kickstarter and I'm sure many of them have spelled huge success for the sellers.  But they probably were in the thousands of items purchased if not more.  On the lower end, I just looked up a campaign (that's what they call them) from 2017.  The seller's goal was to raise 500 pounds and they ended up raising 1,838 from 98 backers.  So that means the wallets were probably around 18 pounds apiece.

Here's a relatively modest campaign:

$4,062 pledged of $2,000 goal

105 backers

[chuck123wapati]

Used to watch a show on gold panning they would sell a membership and a book so you could pan in any of their claims they also sold panning tools and supplies. I soon figured out the gold wasn't in the ground it was in the tools, book and supplies they were selling that made them rich. Kickstarter is the one making the money and you are just doing the work for them! its as close to a scam as anything IMO. No thanks I'll make my own money. 

[ToddW]

I have bought a few things on Kickstarter and the experience was pretty good as a buyer.  As I said, I bought a home Steak Ager and a Home Pizza oven and received both of them.  Both companies have gone on to do well.  I also think it reaches buyers that might not find you normally so its also an exposure thing which has some value.  As said in previous post, it might not be for everyone..  The Kickstart take is 5% + Credit Card processing of 3% so you are talking around 8% which does not seem that bad.  The work to create videos and photography is a lot of work, but for the volume.. you probably need that anyway.  The unknow volume is the big challenge for me personally but it where I want to go anyway..  I am trying to work on a product targeted at Kickstarter which will probably be a wallet as I could not imagine making 400 bags.. Wallets would be a challenge as it is, but bags would be tough without help.

[Tugadude]

Everybody has opinions and none should be discounted.  The only thing I would say is I'd hope that people would do their research before taking a position.  Kickstarter isn't for everyone, as I already mentioned I don't think it would be beneficial for many who regularly post here.  But it would be for some.

I looked up the details and this is what Kickstarter said about their fees:

"How much does a Kickstarter cost?

If a project is successfully funded, Kickstarter collects a 5% fee from the funds collected for creators. Stripe, our payments processor, will also collect a payment processing fee (roughly 3-5%)."

 

I don't think 5% is unreasonable, given the exposure you receive on a thriving platform.  And the fees for the payment processor seem commensurate with typical fees I would expect.  You just have to build the 10% into your retail price is all.  

 

Please understand I'm not a shill for Kickstarter!  I have no financial interest in whether they do well or fade away, none whatsoever.  But I also think they need to be fairly represented.  There are people who have had very successful campaigns and made lots of money, more than they expected.  The one I mentioned was actually a company that introduced some custom playing cards.  They made obscene amounts of money from their campaign.  Even after Kickstarter taking their cut(s).  So success is definitely possible.  Again, is it for everyone?  No, but what is?

 

Edit:  I went and looked up the specifics on the playing card offering and this was the result of the campaign:

 

4,094 backers pledged $477,229 to help bring this project to life.

 

Edited January 31, 2022 by Tugadude
added information

[ToddW]

You beat me to that.. 5% doesn't seem crazy and the exposure is pretty good.  For me personally, I want to ultimately transition this from a hobby to something I can make money at.  if you look at Etsy, there are a TON of leather goods which is hard to hammer through.  Looking at the ones that have moved out of low volume to a real business, a brand and following was created.  SaddleBack is a good example of that.  That is not for everyone, but .. for me.. I want to ultimately be able to do this full time which requires volume.  I follow some on Youtube, (Stock and Barrel and Little King Goods) that I "believe" make more on their Youtube channels than they make doing Leather goods.  I am not a YouTube kinda of guy so need to get volume on my goods.  I am no where near that today but trying to lay the groundwork to get there..  I don't believe I can do the volume hand cutting and hand sewing everything (my hands already hurt) so moving to lasers, clickers and sewing machines which I have already seen is not for a lot here.  I love this site for the honest feedback so don't want to step on toes.  My questions on machines, patents, lasers, kickstarter all have an angle towards making higher volume goods.  I am laying all that groundwork now.. My goal is to do R&D myself and work on the design, style, packaging, branding, etc... and have the volume built by employees or other channels of help.  Does that take the craft out it??  I guess some could argue so, but I believe that a great quality product at a great price has a place.  Do I want to be a walmart.. no.. Do I want to be Hermes...no..I want to be in the middle with great quality leather, great quality hardware, great designs, great consistent quality on sewing and cutting..

Sorry for the long story.. As mentioned, not everyone will agree but at the heart of this, I want my love of leather and my current hobby to evolve into a business that can support my family.  I am a telecom guy professionally and want to roll into something that I love doing as I get into the  latter part of my career.  Working in Tech has become a young mans game..

[JayEhl]

@ToddW   you hit on all the points, I couldn't have said it better, 100%.  This includes the stage in my life/career of IT and I, too, am mulling over options for when I retire.   Hopefully sooner, than later.  :D 

[ToddW]

Thanks @JayEhl!  Been doing Telecom for over 30 years which is fast paced, high stress on a 24x7 basis.  Not that starting a business is easy, I have a lot of experience in building a business, building a brand.. and great at cost control.. Telecom is a low margin business and highly competitive.. My biggest fear is differentiating my stuff from all the Etsy stuff and getting the volume needed to be a business.  That was the core reason for the Kickstarter question which feels like an avenue not explored here.  Its not for everyone (as mentioned) but seems attractive for what I want to do..  

[tsunkasapa]

Having already retired after 30+ years building houses, and 13 of road construction (talk about a young man's game), I am totally happy doing one project at a time. Even when I make the shooting bags to take to the rendezvous, none of them are the same. I've had a lifetime of production work, and I never want that to enter into what I do now.

[ToddW]

hey.. more power to you and looking to do what I love, as you are.  I have tried to model out the number of units I need to move to generate the level of income I want in this period of my life.  I don't need to make what I make now, but I do need a certain level of income.  My modeling keeps pointing to a volume that is higher than selling 1 wallet a day..  Thats just me and clearly you have found a sweet spot for you..  Anyway, I appreciate the variety of responses..

[Tugadude]

59 minutes ago, ToddW said:

You beat me to that.. 5% doesn't seem crazy and the exposure is pretty good.  For me personally, I want to ultimately transition this from a hobby to something I can make money at.  if you look at Etsy, there are a TON of leather goods which is hard to hammer through.  Looking at the ones that have moved out of low volume to a real business, a brand and following was created.  SaddleBack is a good example of that.  That is not for everyone, but .. for me.. I want to ultimately be able to do this full time which requires volume.  I follow some on Youtube, (Stock and Barrel and Little King Goods) that I "believe" make more on their Youtube channels than they make doing Leather goods.  I am not a YouTube kinda of guy so need to get volume on my goods.  I am no where near that today but trying to lay the groundwork to get there..  I don't believe I can do the volume hand cutting and hand sewing everything (my hands already hurt) so moving to lasers, clickers and sewing machines which I have already seen is not for a lot here.  I love this site for the honest feedback so don't want to step on toes.  My questions on machines, patents, lasers, kickstarter all have an angle towards making higher volume goods.  I am laying all that groundwork now.. My goal is to do R&D myself and work on the design, style, packaging, branding, etc... and have the volume built by employees or other channels of help.  Does that take the craft out it??  I guess some could argue so, but I believe that a great quality product at a great price has a place.  Do I want to be a walmart.. no.. Do I want to be Hermes...no..I want to be in the middle with great quality leather, great quality hardware, great designs, great consistent quality on sewing and cutting..

Sorry for the long story.. As mentioned, not everyone will agree but at the heart of this, I want my love of leather and my current hobby to evolve into a business that can support my family.  I am a telecom guy professionally and want to roll into something that I love doing as I get into the  latter part of my career.  Working in Tech has become a young mans game..

Never be sorry for a lengthy post.  It is full of good stuff.  People aren't forced to read it all,  but I'm happy I did.  Maybe your goal should be to become the affordable option to Hermes?