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Old 08-17-2019, 08:01 AM   #1
johndallman
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Default Dungeon Fantasy Magic Items 2, no international physical rewards

This is a sensible decision, and I'd urge SJG to stick to it for Kickstarted books. But please, open them for PoD promptly after US copies have shipped.

Cards, boards, dice and minis are sadly some way from PoD.
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Old 08-17-2019, 12:59 PM   #2
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Default Re: Dungeon Fantasy Magic Items 2, no international physical rewards

Well, I beg to differ. I will not back any kickstarter where I cannot get physical rewards. If SJGames want my business, they have to ship the product to me (in a Kickstarter, at least).
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Old 08-17-2019, 01:12 PM   #3
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Default Re: Dungeon Fantasy Magic Items 2, no international physical rewards

I would have complained ...loudly... in the past.

But I switched to PDF in the Monsters 2 KS backerkit, and I will just give the money invested in deck of Destiny and the others KSs to SJG and forget getting any physical reward ... because now that I am unemployed I cannot afford to pay more for shipping than the item is worth.

It is in no way SJG fault, shipping cost are what they are, so until it come to POD, PDF it will be.

Sad, but an understandable and sensible decision.

Last edited by Celjabba; 08-17-2019 at 01:44 PM.
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Old 08-17-2019, 02:17 PM   #4
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Default Re: Dungeon Fantasy Magic Items 2, no international physical rewards

I do not envy Phil or SJ Games some of the comments they'll be getting on this, but having been privy to discussions between several people in the business (not just SJ Games) of the difficulties and exorbitant costs of international shipping, particularly for low-volume projects like those undertaken by small publishers, I understand why they did it. This is a situation for which there is no good solution, only more or less bad.
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Old 08-17-2019, 03:12 PM   #5
DouglasCole
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Default Re: Dungeon Fantasy Magic Items 2, no international physical rewards

Quote:
Originally Posted by Turhan's Bey Company View Post
there is no good solution, only more or less bad.
This seems to pretty much sum it up. Once Nordvorn and Four Perilous Journeys are both fully complete and paid for, my 2019 Year in Review will take a very hard look at how many dollars got allocated to "moving stuff around the world" using my chosen vector: Print in Latvia, ship to the UK for international fulfillment via Royal Mail, move books to the USA via ship, then fulfill by USPS Media Mail for USA.

I suspect that the accepted loss per order is $2-3 per book actually sold in the Kickstarter. That's a vastly increased internal cost of production for small-run products if you're going into retail or distribution, rather than direct from the publisher (me). Revenue via those routes is maybe $8-14 per book for my $28 book, so a $2-3 increase in costs is . . . non-trivial.
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Old 08-17-2019, 04:40 PM   #6
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Default Re: Dungeon Fantasy Magic Items 2, no international physical rewards

Quote:
Originally Posted by bert View Post
Well, I beg to differ. I will not back any kickstarter where I cannot get physical rewards. If SJGames want my business, they have to ship the product to me (in a Kickstarter, at least).
It is simply not sustainable or realistic. We'll continue to explore options, but there's no way we'll be shipping international for this campaign.

The expense, complexity, and drain on resources simply isn't a good use of our limited staff time and our budget. We don't like the situation, but we have to accept the situation and move on.

As stated, we will make the printed book available as part of this program:

http://www.sjgames.com/gurps/ondemand/
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Old 08-17-2019, 04:42 PM   #7
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Default Re: Dungeon Fantasy Magic Items 2, no international physical rewards

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Originally Posted by DouglasCole View Post
I suspect that the accepted loss per order is $2-3 per book actually sold in the Kickstarter.
In addition to the extra financial expense, there's also the time cost of delays. Offering international shipping on Kickstarter campaigns adds roughly 40 to 45 more days to the delivery stage of the campaign. That is a lot of time to invest in managing shipments.
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Old 08-17-2019, 09:25 PM   #8
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Default Re: Dungeon Fantasy Magic Items 2, no international physical rewards

I suspect that the entire Kickstarter model of business is in peril over the growing trade dispute between China and the US. Hopefully international shipping will be the worst obstacle that needs to be overcome.
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Old 08-17-2019, 10:01 PM   #9
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Default Re: Dungeon Fantasy Magic Items 2, no international physical rewards

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In addition to the extra financial expense, there's also the time cost of delays. Offering international shipping on Kickstarter campaigns adds roughly 40 to 45 more days to the delivery stage of the campaign. That is a lot of time to invest in managing shipments.
Yah. As a one-man shop that doesn't have to pay salaries, or even reimburse my own time watching over this, this is one of the non-trivial factors making this whole thing just HARDER.
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Old 08-18-2019, 02:31 AM   #10
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Default Re: Dungeon Fantasy Magic Items 2, no international physical rewards

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I suspect that the entire Kickstarter model of business is in peril over the growing trade dispute between China and the US. Hopefully international shipping will be the worst obstacle that needs to be overcome.
I don't think the threat of tariffs will have a major impact on the frequency of Kickstarter campaigns. If anything happens, creators can adjust their numbers and move forward. Support may slow, once backers have to spend more, but the number of new campaigns should be effectively unaffected.

I think the most at risk campaigns are those where their margins are so thin that a 10% or 25% tariff eats what little money they may have remaining after all expenses. Or, worst of all, they have enough cash to receive the product . . . and then not enough cash to fulfill the rewards.
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