The basic pledge
of $45 nets you a pound in weight of metal figures; a total of 25 containing 83
separately cast parts. My 5th
Kickstarter contains new and old pieces, many of which have not been available
since 2013. Unlike my previous
Kickstarters there are no stretch goals.
Just one big cheap pile of robotic madness!
Plus, I have
included many add-on options from cyber-grunts, to units of security drones. I’ve spent the last two years making well
over 100 molds for this project which can be purchased till March 30th
2017. I will begin shipping pledges as
early as April with the bulk shipping in May of 2017.
2016 will be the year of the Fantasy Monsters for JohnnyBorgCastings.com with two Kickstarters scheduled on the subject, one live right now and the other just before the year is out.
This first set includes 15 Fantasy Zombie and Skeletal Monsters at
28mm scale on Kickstarter till June 18th 2016, plus 15 additional
Dungeon Décor stretch goals.
Already reasonably priced at $2.66 each, achieved stretch
goals can bring the price down to $1.25 each and the double pledge level can
potentially bring the price down to 99 cents each. This is my 4th Kickstarter and I
cast my own figures with over 100,000 parts sold in the previous three
completed Kickstarters.
Also, you can add-on over 100 different single figures from
my previous three Kickstarters. Go to
this Kickstarter where you will find the PDF Catalog
download with part numbers, prices, and pics.
Johnny Lauck has teamed up with Miles Holmes, the creator of
Road Kill Ultimate Car Combat Game, to offer a NEW set of modular vehicles,
scenery, weapons, and accessories cast in metal at N scale. Johnny is casting the figures, fulfilling
orders, making the molds, and managing this kickstarter.
You will find the FREE 98 page revised core rules book and
templates on the Kickstarter. Road Kill
is a tabletop strategy game where horsepower meets firepower! Road Kill can be played in less than 1 hour
with 2-5 gamers.
This Kickstarter
runs from September 1st to
October 17th, 2015 with the
first wave of shipments will start heading out on November 17th
2015. Johnny’s new policy is to ship the
highest dollar pledges first.
Customers
generally want three things when placing an order with your crowd funding
project.#1 approximate shipping date, #2
confirmation when it ships, and #3 no hassles or damages upon delivery. Customer satisfaction cuts down on problems and keeps them coming back for more. Always put yourself in the customers shoes.
Damaged goods are not entirely avoidable.We are dealing with a middle man, the postal
carrier.When a box travels from point A
to point B, you will never know how that parcel is handled.Then there is the possibility that customs
will open your carefully packed box, look through the contents to assess value,
and then carelessly throw the figures back in the box for delivery.
There is also figure design.One particular sword wielding figure that I shipped out in my first KS
was prone to bending and breaking off.I’m currently having a sculptor redesign the hand and sword on the
figure so as to avoid future shipping problems.
Regardless, the goal is to keep the figures from shifting
and you can never over insulate from that possibility. Here are some materials
to help prevent damage.
Chip board boxes:These little boxes are shipped condensed and flat, are
offered in many sizes/shapes and can be quickly assembled. In my
region of the world, I order them from Uline.com or MichiganBox.com for the
cheapest shipping rates to me.You want
to order heavy cardboard office supplies that are close to your location to
save money.I primarily use chip board boxes to fill
up the space as best I can within the main shipping box, creating a box or
boxes within the main box.This
re-enforces the strength of the box and helps to prevent against damage should
your box end up at the bottom of a heavy pile of materials during shipping. (customer satisfaction #3).
Chip board boxes on the left and corrugated on the right
Zip lock baggies:Initially I was against the use of these handy and cheap containers, but
over time I discovered they are great for separating parts into groups, keeping
tiny parts from loss, and can be folded in many ways and tightly packed into the
chip board boxes.These too can be
ordered from Uline.com in many sizes.
Case of 1,000 zip baggies size 3 x 4 inches
Stuffing:Recycle whenever possible.I
shred most of my business paperwork after seven years because you can’t be
audited in the USA
after that period.If you don’t generate
a lot of paperwork, then shred newspaper which you can find in great quantity
from neighbors or recycling center dumpsters even in today’s digital age.You will have to invest in a paper shredder
(mine is a floor model with wheels, cost around $160 several years ago, and
holds eight gallons of shredded paper).Small table top shredders are not very reliable so spend the money and
get a good one. There is that initial cost but then your stuffing is free
for years to come.Fill in areas within the chip board box with shredded paper to keep the contents tight.
My shredder can cut 30 sheets at a time, paperclips, and CDs
Outer shipping box:In the USA,
use USPS.com because your priority shipping boxes are free.I do keep a generic brown corrugated box on
hand (ordered through MichiganBox.com) for orders that I want to ship first
class outside of the USA
to reduce shipping prices.You can
further save money by creating prepaid shipping labels through the USPS.com
website.Tracking information is
generated on each online purchase and automatically e-mailed to customers
fulfilling (customer satisfaction #2).The online service allows you the convenience of running the labels the
night before, and then simply dropping them off at your local United States
Postal Service center avoiding having to wait forever for the clerk to do the
same time consuming work.
Basically, if you
design it right, you should only have costs tied up in zip lock baggies, chip
board boxes, and packaging tape with the stuffing and outer boxes costing you
nothing.
Scaling up:The maximum amount of orders I could cast, sort, box, and label in a
weekend was 50.The online labeling
alone took approximately one hour per 10 labels.I would cut and paste the shipping
information and e-mail information directly from my KS pledge report found in
my accounts area online, into the USPS.com account to keep the information as
accurate as possible.This also allowed
me to flag the rewards that were shipped as I was generating the labels and
then filter pledgers out of future reports to keep track of who was taken care
of.If I were to type and copy it by
hand, there may have been typos and delays in delivery.Lastly you pre-pay before the labels
can be downloaded and printed, and affixed to the boxes.Time is a major factor in running a
successful crowd funding project and scaling up is simply the term for
repeating a process in greater multiples.I had close to 250 pledges divided by 50 a week or five weeks.Due to some unforeseen problems it took me
six weeks to ship them all.If I would
have received 1,000 pledges the shipping would have taken 20 weeks or five
months to complete. Scaling up is a good estimating tool that allows you to
pass information to your supporters to keep them informed as the project moves
forward supporting (customer satisfaction #1).
Shipping charges:As mentioned in the previous article “The Math Behind Rewards”, if you
need $10 shipping and handling to cover expenses per reward, you will need to
increase this amount by 1.1 or ask $11 shipping because the crowdfunder host is
going to take fees out of the end total.I can offer free shipping in the USA even though it costs me $5.25
each because I factored that into my formula as a cost for my project like
metal, packaging, etc.Free shipping is a great way to attract customers
if you have room in your profit margins.I asked $10 from overseas customers because my average overseas package
cost me $14 to ship (base cost/expense of $5.25 on all orders plus $9 overseas
customer after crowdfunding fee).
Crowdfunders:Keep
costs down by looking at many ways to box all orders, as long as the savings
does not impede the safe arrival of the products within.Scale up when a project ends so you know how
long it will take to ship.
Pledgers:Projects
that ship beyond the year they were promised will often run into increased
shipping costs for the crowdfunder, who has alreadybudgeted in that expense in a previous year
and now has to raise more funds.
The object of a
crowd funded project is not to gross as much money as possible, but to keep
your costs from running beyond the gross sales while maintaining a profit or
break even point. Rewards cannot simply
be given away indefinitely, there is a limit.If you go over the limit, you’re now taking a loss and the project will
fail unless you chip in your own money.Here is an example of how to calculate when each new stretch goal can be
afforded.
Starting
pledge level example:You want to
create 10 human sized figures and sell them for a pledge for $30.00.The pledge value is one of many values that
can be tweaked and changed to make the project break even or profitable.You’re going to lose roughly 10% of all the
funds you raise due to credit card processing fees and crowd funding fees.So you will actually be receiving $27 per
pledge.
Pre-production
cost value example:Your sculptor
quotes you $3,000 for 10 humans and a mold maker quotes you $100 for a master
mold and $600 for production molds for a base total of $3,700.
Core packaging cost value example:Remember in article #2 (Income tax and
profits) I showed my total costs per pledge?Use that same logic to create what your cost will be per pledge in packaging
materials, zip baggies, paper costs, etc.Let’s say $2.00 not counting the cost per figure.
Production cost
value example: Each human figure costs 75 cents to cast if outsourced or 25
cents if you own your own equipment but for the sake of this article we will
assume you are outsourcing which is what most miniature crowdfunders do.10 figures cast at 75 cents = $7.50 per
pledge plus the $2 in core packaging fees = $9.50 cost per pledge.
Goal
calculation example: Using your starting pledge level of $30 for 10 figures
(not counting shipping charges), your profit per pledge will be $17.50 (production
cost of $9.50 minus $27 due to fees off the $30).Divide $17.50 into the initial pre production
value of $3,700 you want to raise = 211 pledges.Your “Goal” is now 211 x $30 (not counting
shipping) or $6,330 to break even.
Shipping
charges:For the sake of simplicity,
we will leave out the calculation of shipping charges and cover that in article
#5.Remember to multiply the shipping
charge received by (1.1) to take into account the 10% extra you will need due
to crowdfunding fees.
Stretch goal
#1 example:Stretch goals are not
necessary crowdfunding requirements but are greatly appreciated bonus figures
to supporters causing many of your supporters to spread the word about your
project.
One additional stretch
goal pre production cost sculpture and molds work $370.00 (estimated based on
the average cost to make 10)added to
the “Pre-production cost” $3,700 = $4,070.Take your production cost value of $9.50 add in the #1 stretch goal casting
cost of .75 cents = $10.25 minus $27 remaining pledge your new profit per
pledge is $16.75 divided into the new “pre-production” total of $4,070 in this
example 243 x $30 your next “Goal calculation” is $7,290.In other words, when pledges reach $7,290 you
can afford to add in ONE human sized stretch goal to the initial $30 pledge and
still break even on the project.That is
an increase of $960 from your original starting goal.This is assuming your stretch goal is the
same size/weight etc as all of the figures in the project and you only have to
create one set of molds per figure with metal castings.
Stretch goal #2 example:Using the same formula, watch the compounded
costs increase outcome per stretch goal added.Pre-production cost $370 + $4,070 = $4,440.Production cost 75 cents + $10.25 = $11.00
minus $27 pledge level = $16.00 divided into pre-production $4,440 = 278 x $30
= $8,340.The new increase is $1,080 to
break even and add in stretch goal #2 to the $30 pledge level.
Stretch goals compounded costs on a $30 pledge:
Initial goal to break even $6,330 ….................10
figures211 pledges
When would stretch
goals begin losing money?As soon as
your combined production costs, pre-production costs, and core package costs
reach $27.In this example, by stretch goal
#23, assuming that every sculpture, casting costs, and mold work costs are the
same.
Remember to always double check the math on all stretch
goals.
(Example using stretch goal #5)
Sculptures 15 x $370 = $5,550
Cast figures 15 x .75 = $11.25 x 404 pledges =$4,545
Core package costs $2.00 x 404 pledges = $808
Subtotal $10,903
Gross sales $27 x 404 pledges = $10,908 ($5 off to my
advantage because I rounded up or down on some of the fractions in the example)
Gross sales before 10% fee $30 x 404 pledges = $12,120
Note that this
article is a rough calculation and is designed to show the math behind
compounding.There are plenty of
“variables” that will greatly alter the calculation such as a higher dollar
pledges to increase profits, casting or sculpting your own figures, giving away
rewards that are overstock, lower processing fees, smaller or larger figures, free
or reduced shipping, increased shipping charges due to added rewards, etc.
Crowdfunders:Thoroughly work out the math first and get quotes for mold and casting work from
many sources.Always round up to protect
against error, but be prepared to take a loss if necessary because there can be
unforeseen expenses when you are starting with absolutely nothing.
Pledgers:Avoid projects where stretch goals vary in size dramatically. Larger figures such as monsters cost two to 10 times more to produce and make
calculating costs for the project creator nearly impossible. Therefore, the project could be at risk of failure.
