How do people feel about Early Bird Specials on Kickstarter?

[Carnacki the Ghost Finder]

I rarely venture out into the interweb these days but I did notice some consistent complaining at BGG and the Cthulhu Wars Kickstarter about early bird specials. Specifically, "I would back this but I missed the Early Birds and refuse to pay $20 more for the same thing just because I don't camp out on Kickstarter."

 

Is this a reasonable complaint? I don't have a strong opinion either way. I know the point is to get people to back early on rather than wait.

 

Cheers.

 

P.S. I have my own idea about how to get people to back early on: promise to send out their stuff first

[demonbunny3po]

I like the idea of the early bird specials, but I would prefer to see the early backers get theirs first than to get a discount. And I am one of those people that managed to get an Early Bird a time or two. Really, all it did was enable me to get more of the add-ons.

[Last Knight]

Not a fan, but I don't live on Kickstarter.

[smokingwreckage]

I don't live on KS and I don't care. If a deal is good by the time I get to it, hurrah! If it's gone sour, I skip it.

[Lovejoy]

I hate them with a passion! I simply won't pledge on a KS with Early bird deals. The KS will be open for pledges for a month or more; why should some people get a better deal just because they spotted it early?

 

Plus it leads to people pledging for an Early bird deal even if they aren't too sure whether they really want it - they just pull out later. That can't be much fun if you're running a KS.

 

cheers

Michael

[Doramos]

I like them. I've managed to get in on some and missed some but whether I get one or not doesn't change whether I'll back a project. I have yet to see a kickstarter for a RPG or Miniature game that isn't a good deal.

I think they are a nice bonus to the more ardent supporters of those companies. Most people I know that get them usually end up pledging much more for addons regardless.

[Inarah]

I think it's a great way to entice people to get involved early. Take the first step, back the new project and get the ball rolling and get an extra reward. It's a common promotion, first hundred people through the gate get a ballcap.... or the first hundred shoppers get a $5 gift card....

 

IMO life is inherently unfair. A lot of people haven't figured that out yet and get their panties in a bunch over minor inequalities of day to day life. I've got to wonder if these same people boycott a vendor if they miss the 20% off sale "because they don't camp on the vendor website".

[SIGIL]

It is a marketing manipulation. Essentially it is intended to achieve the funding goal quickly and contribute to the feeding frenzy around the launch of the campaign.

[Suden]

I am not a fan. Of course that won't stop me from backing a project or picking up an early bird slot if I see one on a project I want to back. Lovejoy makes a very good point about people grabbing something they really don't need or want just to reserve a spot. Then you end up with slots being held and dropped at the last minute. It also makes a difference if there is a larger difference in pledges, if an early bird is a $5-$10 savings it isn't going to bother me, but when you get $25-$50 penalty because you didn't hear about a project in time, that seems unreasonable to me. Of course people who missed Reaper's ks are looking at a 400% markup, so unfairness abounds.

[Deadeye_Jake]

I don't have a strong opinion either way. I see it for what it is. If I'm on the fence about pledging and I see I'm eligible for a deep discount if I pledge RIGHT NOW, I start to salivate and the money seems to fly out of my wallet! Thank you very much Cthulhu Wars….

 

 

[briggart]

I think that's a reasonable complaint in the sense that, depending on what you are interested into, it may be a good deal if you get an early bird spot but you may be better off waiting for retail if you don't, and frankly I'm not sure I would have backed this if I didn't get an EB. But that doesn't seem to be the tone of the most passionate posts in the BGG thread.

 

I'm probably too cynic, but I wonder if the early bird had been announced on BGG (instead of Facebook) there would have been a thread "I would back this but I missed the Early Birds and refuse to pay $20 more for the same thing just because I don't camp out on BGG."

[estrus]

Doesn't really affect me either way- nice bonus if I snag one, shrug if I don't.

 

I've seen people refuse to back when shipping is half the pledge amount which is just a sad reality and understandable. However I saw someone whine once "I really wanted to back this but since I missed the $10 EB NOW I WON'T" /pout

 

There will *always* be something about KS that will rile people up- exclusives, missed deadlines, lack of communication, EBs. It's almost like some wild frontier... if you can't handle the risk, stay far away.

[Malynor]

estrus hit the nail right on the head for me. Early bird pledges normally aren't a huge savings, and am rather ambivalent towards them. What kills me is international shipping. Yes I understand it's not cheap, but, in some cases I'm better off waiting for retail, and picking it up from a local distributor (or an online retailer that offers free shipping). It's more of an "I want to support this creator, and help make their ideas a reality, but the cost is too great" feeling, than a "I hate shipping costs" feeling. It's particularly harsh for those of us here in Canada - we get hit for International shipping, even though it's less expensive to ship here than it is over seas. When I see a company that goes out of their way to acknowledge this, I am much more likely to back.

[Darsc Zacal]

What Malynor said. I'd rather see the international backers get a break on shipping than have early bird specials.

[CashWiley]

I'll back quality without gimmicks, and I'm glad folks like Tre here don't use them. There's no need for freebies or EB pledges if there is a quality product offered for a reasonable price.

 

That said, an EB pledge IS more likely to entice me into something I'm hesitant about. It was tougher to pull out of Cthulhu Wars because I had the father's day EB, which made a fairly expensive KS more attractive. But then it made it a barrier to backing again later, as I kept thinking about the deal I had. But with the Raging Heroes KS, even without the savings of an EB and all the freebies, I'd have backed them because it's a nice range of minis from a proven company at a decent price.

 

So I think that's the bottom line: if you aren't backing because you didn't snag an EB pledge, you're probably not all that enthused about the KS in the first place.

 

To briefly touch on the tangent estrus mentions, Re: Risk. I think it's even a bit more than 'if you can't handle risk', I look at it more as 'if you can't /evaluate/ risk'.