Chern-Ann N.

We've raised $1.2 million (and counting) over two projects this way (Zombicide and Sedition Wars). We've also tried running our own pre-orders and barely scratched $30k, so for an apples to apples comparison, Kickstarter is excellent.

Kickstarter is an incredible huge machete in your little Swiss Army Knife of marketing tools. If you've got enough strength to pick up the knife and know how to use it, it beats the dinky little 3" one any day. If you don't know how to use it, it won't do anything for you; in that the other reviewers are right, Kickstarter will amplify your existing audience exponentially, but won't do much if you don't already have one.

If you're raising money for a product, rather than a project, then Kickstarter is an excellent place to do it. Viewed as a pre-ordering system, 5% is an extremely low commission on a sale, since you'll need to pick up the tab for credit card processing anyway. Compare this to other marketplaces like eBay and Amazon that have a large reach, the fees here are usually close to 15% excluding credit card fees. Or, compare to affiliate programs which you can run through providers like Commision Junction or on your own sites, if you offer anything less than 10% no one is going to want promote your product.

Compared to Indiegogo, Kickstarter has a significant advantage in funding potential; with huge pluses in both perceived credibility/safety and audience. Non-US companies have realized this and are intentionally opening representative offices in the US in order to use Kickstarter (Carmageddon Reincarnation is a recent high profile example in the video games sector).

I'm not sure how long this phenomenon will last but while the audience is enthusiastic that's the platform we'll be using in the short term (before the JOBS Act).