Hi Ultimates,
It's Friday! That's means time for another project update...
Project status
Pledge Manager
I've been working together with the team from PledgeBox to set up the Pledge Manager.
At the moment I've added in 90% of all the data and numbers (a lot more work then I expected...)
Just to give you an idea of what will be in the PledgeBox Pledge Manager:
The option to upgrade to a higher Pledge Tier
The option to choose (additional) Add-Ons; all Kickstarter Add-Ons will be available
A menu for selecting the dUltimate styles for your Standard and Premium Tier dice; with images
Text fields for entering your name and such for the Hall of Fame
Enter shipping details and pay for shipping
For backer from EU only: pay Value Added Taxes
Shipping costs
After requesting a lot of quotation I soon realized that the cheapest option for all of you would be to pack and ship everything myself from my own house. Actually paying other people to pick, pack, and ship is so much more expensive than I expected.
One option would be to split the shipments up: send materials for all US shipments to a US fulfillment center and do rest of the World from the Netherlands. The costs for US shipments then remains approximately the same (higher worker cost vs lower shipping cost), but that means I send less packages from the Netherlands and thus get a lower discount.
The other option would be to send all 2200 packages from the Netherlands. Which is a lot of work, but it saves some money because that way I do all the work myself.
I haven't decided on the options yet, but I do know that I do not want to make you, the backers, pay more because of my bad estimates.
Just to give you an idea of expected shipping costs; this is what I have mentioned in the Kickstarter campaign:
The following are only estimates for the "One standard tier dUltimate" pledge. Higher tier pledges might incur additional costs of about 1-5 Euros/Dollars depending on the pledge.
United States €14 $17
Canada €19 $25
The Netherlands €11 $13
European Union €14 $17
Rest of Europe €15 $19
China/Hong Kong €15 $19
Rest of Asia €21 $25
Australia/New Zealand €16 $19
Rest of the World €31 $37
In the definitive Pledge Manager: the shipping cost for the 1x Standard Tier dUltimate is cheaper than those values for most regions and the same for the others. The 2x and 4x Standard Tier go for the exact same shipping cost as the 1x Standard Tier since the package will be similar in dimensions and weight.
The shipping cost for the 1x Premium Tier dUltimate is the same or slightly more expensive than those values because the size of the package is a lot larger due to the case and the total weight is also 5-10 times higher (depending on the material of the dice.)
Sequential Tiers and Add-Ons each add a little bit more shipping based on dimensions, weight, and region. You will be able to see the impact on shipping costs in the Pledge Manager.
All in all the shipping costs that will be shown in the Pledge Manager are very similar to the estimates made on the Kickstarter campaign page.
Value Added Tax (EU only)
Besides shipping, the campaign page also mentioned that Pledges do not include fees imposed by your country such as Value Added Tax. However, according to rules set by the European Union any entity taking part in trade is required to collect the fees that are imposed on consumer products by EU members: VAT, BTW, MwSt, IVA, PTU, Moms, or whatever it is called in your country. I'm sure I do not need to explain those taxes any further.
All VAT for EU countries will be shown clearly in the Pledge Manager and collected upon payment.
Like the Dutch Tax agency always says: We can't make it more fun, only easier.
Expectations for the next weeks
Pledge Manager
I am finalizing the PledgeBox Pledge Manager. I will send out a small batch of Surveys around 14th October 2021 - if there are no issues with those Surveys then I will send out all other Surveys just a few days later.
I will inform everyone when Surveys are sent out, so that no will have to worry about missing the PledgeBox e-mail.
Some other info
Disruptions and delays
I haven't ordered any dice yet (because I first need to know which styles you all want via the Pledge Manager), so I don't know if there will be any disruptions or delays in the supply line.
The reason I'm talking about this anyway is because Kickstarter is notifying everyone about such potential events. So, just to inform you all
Many of us have already been affected by these disruptions, and they can very well impact this project too. I will do my best to stay up to date on these situations and talk everything through with both the manufacturers and shipping agencies.
Images and videos to decide your favorite dUltimate style
I am working on making some videos of rolls from different dUltimate styles to help you all make decisions on which style you prefer. Though I can't make videos of the Metal version because I cannot make accurate Metal prototypes in my workspace, only Plastic.
For the Metal versions I have updated all rendered images to be more realistic. Here is a side-by-side comparison of rendered images and their counterparts in the real world:
New rendered images on the left and handmade prototypes / other samples on the right
Hope this will help you all be more sure of your decision!
Keep on rolling!
-Len
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