Bones Kickstarter #2 Discussion

[Last Knight]

Ding! What do y'all think, next goal Sunday? Or Monday?

[ApesAmongUs]

If we made $60,000 profit from the first Kickstarter, I want a raise...

You obviously make mad cash. Those hats don't come cheap.

[klarg1]

Ding! What do y'all think, next goal Sunday? Or Monday?

 

I'm thinking Monday, unless we do unusually well over the Weekend. Not a bad way to start the week.

[kaosweaver]

 

I would hope they made more profit off $3million in sales than $60k.

 

Kickstarter is a bit different. Since it is a fundraising campaign with discounted prices, they are, presumably, getting drastically reduced margins and ploughing nearly all of the funds raised into developing the product or 'capital investments', such as their shiny new injection mold machine.

 

I would guess that Reaper's planned margin on Kickstarter funds (after paying for labor, molds, production, etc.) is as close to zero as they can get, without risking a catastrophic loss on the project if something goes unexpectedly wrong.

 

 

See, company's don't have magic balls, they can't predict unexpected expenses. Small companies can go out of business on one simple small key mistake. Reaper is a small company. They shouldn't be targeting "as close to zero" on *anything* related to their business. Their is no nobility, nor honor, nor goodness, nor righteousness in planning to "make nothing" on a business venture. Reaper has a responsibility to its stakeholders (owners, investors, bankers whom they owe money) to be profitable to handle unexpected issues (like, say, a lawsuit that comes out of the blue - increases in regulation expenses - increases in tax or rent or whatever - that wasn't budgeted for) - running "as close to zero as possible" is very bad business. I would hope Reaper does better than that.

 

Having run (and still running) businesses, I know for certain, cash and profit are king for small business, everything they do should add to the bottom line. I'm thrilled they profited off of me, because that means they will be there in the future making (even more) products I want to buy. Profit isn't a bad thing. The only time I argue against a company profiting (more than normal) is when the government regulates them so they can monopolize off of a captive audience (cable companies without competition, energy companies, etc). Reaper doesn't fall in to that category, so profit on!

[TrojanRat]

One Point I really like about this KS, is how Reaper used the Early Birds.

 

And I want something like that:

 

*snip Asian dragon pic*

 

As someone that's suffering from dragon burn out, that style I would pick up.

[LoopyChickenfanny]

Even if they didn't clear $60k profit from the kickstarter itself they should make up for it in other areas. I missed the first KS, but have spent over $100 cherry picking retail what I liked from it, and just unloaded another $100 on paints/brushes/accessories (all Reaper).

[naponatom]

70,000 away... I guess monday (but Reaperbryan could leave a teaser of the next stretch goal to help us get there faster)

[ArthurDent]

It seems we pick up steam, so I hope for Sunday.

[Last Knight]

I was guessing Sunday evening before the bases Trick, so I'ma keep with that. We got a helluva boost there.

[unidentifiable]

Bahaha, "Pledge Claculator".

 

 

Ding! What do y'all think, next goal Sunday? Or Monday?

 

Probably mid-late Saturday IMO. Bags of bases will probably draw a lot of additional pledging, we're only out 75k and we made 70k yesterday alone according to Kicktraq.

 

 

 

I would hope they made more profit off $3million in sales than $60k.

 

Kickstarter is a bit different. Since it is a fundraising campaign with discounted prices, they are, presumably, getting drastically reduced margins and ploughing nearly all of the funds raised into developing the product or 'capital investments', such as their shiny new injection mold machine.

 

I would guess that Reaper's planned margin on Kickstarter funds (after paying for labor, molds, production, etc.) is as close to zero as they can get, without risking a catastrophic loss on the project if something goes unexpectedly wrong.

 

 

See, company's don't have magic balls, they can't predict unexpected expenses. Small companies can go out of business on one simple small key mistake. Reaper is a small company. They shouldn't be targeting "as close to zero" on *anything* related to their business. Their is no nobility, nor honor, nor goodness, nor righteousness in planning to "make nothing" on a business venture. Reaper has a responsibility to its stakeholders (owners, investors, bankers whom they owe money) to be profitable to handle unexpected issues (like, say, a lawsuit that comes out of the blue - increases in regulation expenses - increases in tax or rent or whatever - that wasn't budgeted for) - running "as close to zero as possible" is very bad business. I would hope Reaper does better than that.

 

Having run (and still running) businesses, I know for certain, cash and profit are king for small business, everything they do should add to the bottom line. I'm thrilled they profited off of me, because that means they will be there in the future making (even more) products I want to buy. Profit isn't a bad thing. The only time I argue against a company profiting (more than normal) is when the government regulates them so they can monopolize off of a captive audience (cable companies without competition, energy companies, etc). Reaper doesn't fall in to that category, so profit on!

 

 

"Running as close to zero is bad for business"?

 

Tell that to Jeff Bezos. Amazon is doing absolutely amazing.

[Rich711]

Those are some good points, maybe they budgeted it as an investment in both new models and win over new customers and building customer loyalty.

Edited October 11, 2013 by Rich711

[TaleSpinner]

 

 

One Point I really like about this KS, is how Reaper used the Early Birds.

 

And I want something like that:

In a way, chinese/asian dragons are pretty close to Verocithrax.

 

Just with shorter legs and less wings.

 

 

Also more hair.

 

 

I would love to see a good Asian dragon sculpt, but most of the ones (that I know about) that are currently available don't really do it for me. Who knows, maybe there is a Reaper sculptor busily working away at a new one right now.

 

 

The problem with Asian dragons is that to do them justice they would be un-castable unless you cut them into many pieces. Serpentine loops going out of plane create mold lock, which is likely why there really are no great Oriental dragon sculpts, because the sulptors are always limited by the medium. Just a thought.

[smokingwreckage]

How many people who are actually in business need to say "X is bad for business" before people who are not in business believe them?

[TaleSpinner]

How many people who are actually in business need to say "X is bad for business" before people who are not in business believe them?

 

Why did I read that as if it were being sung by Peter. Paul. and Mary.

[unidentifiable]

How many people who are actually in business need to say "X is bad for business" before people who are not in business believe them?

 

Just one. But his claims need to be verifiable.

 

If I said "All apples are red" and then someone showed me a green apple, my original hypothesis is now wrong.

 

To wit, let's say X = "Hitting your customers with bricks". I'm fairly comfortable that this statement is correct, unless you're into some weird kinky stuff.

 

Edit - If you can't find supporting evidence that my statement is incorrect, then I submit my hypothesis as "Unidentifiable's theory of business".

Edited October 11, 2013 by unidentifiable