Something Wicked This Way Comes Part 3: "CardLauncher"!

[Cbkimble]

Ok, i guess 'limit' is too harsh a word in this situation. Maybe suggest is better. Suggest to creators that they should limit add-ons.

[Mike Ratledge]

Ok, i guess 'limit' is too harsh a word in this situation. Maybe suggest is better. Suggest to creators that they should limit add-ons.

Now that I agree with, us at least suggesting that people time things a little better. Right now there is absolutely no coordination. Making is suggested, of course, but coordinating things to a reasonable extent is doable. I know a couple of artists have already expressed that they want the freedom to do their own timing, and I understand that. We can suggest, we can't require, just like with the production, fulfillment and other partners.

[MagikFingerz]

I think, in time, if they see enough business going through CL they will eventually get on board. In other words, if enough designers using CL choose USPCC, they'll come around.

Either that, or if enough designers using CL does NOT use USPCC. If CL projects use USPCC anyway, they might think that becoming affiliated is a waste and there's no need to give anyone a discount. People using the competition might wake them up.

No matter what happens though, I hope they do get on board eventually and start giving EPCC some actual competition.

[Mike Ratledge]

Thanks, Tom! I truly hope that we will have them on board, but it's hard to say, for now. You also raised the question in the private CL forum about separating shipping for all projects and I think we need to ask that here: "Would you prefer that all projects showed separate shipping and handling?" I don't see why not, really - and it's part of the problem for people that have to pay extra for international shipping. Perhaps make it where there was a 3-tiered system that have US-based prices, Canadian prices and overseas prices for shipping, and it was calculated by quantity of decks or uncuts, etc. - maybe even shipping weight? I'm in favor of it, really.

What does everybody else think? Don't you agree that the deck being $12 US period hides the fact that the deck is really $8 and you're paying $4 for shipping? You are...

If it was completely separate it would work better for overseas projects as well, although I sincerely think it's bad business to do anything in foreign currency because it holds projects back. Just an example: Rick Davidson's "Origins" decks in my mind SHOULD have done $75,000 or more - they were that good, but because they were all quote in NZD, I think that held some people back from pledging, even though fulfillment is done from the states. Just my guy feeling, and we've seen more than one deck fail because the price is in GBP or otherwise, Euros, whatever.

From an accounting and administrative perspective, it would also simplify the escrow of funds for fulfillment, since we're going to know going in what the costs of shipping is.

[SuicideKing]

Thanks, Tom! I truly hope that we will have them on board, but it's hard to say, for now. You also raised the question in the private CL forum about separating shipping for all projects and I think we need to ask that here: "Would you prefer that all projects showed separate shipping and handling?" I don't see why not, really - and it's part of the problem for people that have to pay extra for international shipping. Perhaps make it where there was a 3-tiered system that have US-based prices, Canadian prices and overseas prices for shipping, and it was calculated by quantity of decks or uncuts, etc. - maybe even shipping weight? I'm in favor of it, really.

Very good idea to separate shipping. Totally like it.

So everything is clear. US backers now know how much they are paying for shipping. International don't think they are paying twice. And if you can have Canadian prices, that would be so great!

Bonus: People will not think that creators sell the deck for less in their website after the campaign like now (because shipping is not included in the price on the website).

[MagikFingerz]

If the project managers choose to use one of the affiliated shipping services, it shouldn't be a problem to automatically calculate shipping for pledges. Although that would require an additional input of what exactly is added on to the base pledge. Don't know if that'll work with your software, Mike, but I suppose it's worth looking into.

[Mike Ratledge]

If the project managers choose to use one of the affiliated shipping services, it shouldn't be a problem to automatically calculate shipping for pledges. Although that would require an additional input of what exactly is added on to the base pledge. Don't know if that'll work with your software, Mike, but I suppose it's worth looking into.

True, at least at first they would need to separate it out, or have three sets of tiers, one domestic one for Canadians and one for overseas.

Still, escrow of all shipping costs is reasonable...

[Cbkimble]

I like the idea of seeing what the deck costs and the shipping costs. I'm guilty of it myself, as you can see on the killer clowns thread. I look at the KS price per deck but forget that shipping, KS, and Amazon payments fees are included in that price.

[Sher]

If the project managers choose to use one of the affiliated shipping services, it shouldn't be a problem to automatically calculate shipping for pledges. Although that would require an additional input of what exactly is added on to the base pledge. Don't know if that'll work with your software, Mike, but I suppose it's worth looking into.

True, at least at first they would need to separate it out, or have three sets of tiers, one domestic one for Canadians and one for overseas.

Still, escrow of all shipping costs is reasonable...

Instead of having three separate tiers for one type of reward (only differentiated by shipping cost for US, Canada, or international), would it be possible to have one tier, and then on a subsequent page have the backer indicate their location, which will then prompt them to add the corresponding shipping cost? Similar to most online stores, where a customer chooses the item, and then shipping to is shown later, once the shipping address is indicated. This way, there won't be three tiers for each type of reward. There won't be too much clutter and possibly less confusion.

[rjtomlinson1977]

If the project managers choose to use one of the affiliated shipping services, it shouldn't be a problem to automatically calculate shipping for pledges. Although that would require an additional input of what exactly is added on to the base pledge. Don't know if that'll work with your software, Mike, but I suppose it's worth looking into.

True, at least at first they would need to separate it out, or have three sets of tiers, one domestic one for Canadians and one for overseas.

Still, escrow of all shipping costs is reasonable...

Instead of having three separate tiers for one type of reward (only differentiated by shipping cost for US, Canada, or international), would it be possible to have one tier, and then on a subsequent page have the backer indicate their location, which will then prompt them to add the corresponding shipping cost? Similar to most online stores, where a customer chooses the item, and then shipping to is shown later, once the shipping address is indicated. This way, there won't be three tiers for each type of reward. There won't be too much clutter and possibly less confusion.

I just spent the whole weekend shipping out tons of cards and noticed that even shipping within the country can vary by huge amounts depending on where you're shipping. Of course, flat rate boxes help but not by much. It would be nice to see an option on the site where you can choose the shipment method you want. For fulfillment centers add their costs on too. With me, I just paid the kids 25 cents per box they taped.
I would also like to see an option you can select mulitpe reward levels. That way add-ons can be treated as a reward that can be selected and accounted for better. With KS you need to rely on the backer filling out the sruvey correctly.

[sinjin7]

I think it would be refreshing to see shipping costs separate from the deck costs. This way, no one can sneak in extra charges/profits by hiding them in the shipping. Make everything transparent and make people be up front about costs. Make people do their homework by pricing out what it costs to ship single decks versus multiple decks. I hate it when people claim shipping and "handling" is X amount per deck, but don't factor in multiple deck orders. For example, don't say you're claiming shipping and "handling" is going to cost $4 or more per deck (which is high) when we all know it doesn't cost $24 to ship 6 decks or $48 for a brick. This itemization of the actual shipping costs is almost becomes necessary if you're going to hold shipping costs in escrow as well.

[Cbkimble]

I just spent the whole weekend shipping out tons of cards and noticed that even shipping within the country can vary by huge amounts depending on where you're shipping. Of course, flat rate boxes help but not by much. It would be nice to see an option on the site where you can choose the shipment method you want. For fulfillment centers add their costs on too. With me, I just paid the kids 25 cents per box they taped.
I would also like to see an option you can select mulitpe reward levels. That way add-ons can be treated as a reward that can be selected and accounted for better. With KS you need to rely on the backer filling out the sruvey correctly.

That sounds like a good idea but maybe not the reward levels but an add-on page where you choose what and how many of an item to add on.

[volantangel]

I would also like to see an option you can select mulitpe reward levels. That way add-ons can be treated as a reward that can be selected and accounted for better. With KS you need to rely on the backer filling out the sruvey correctly.

I think this is an absolutely brilliant idea, this would eliminate the need for post campaign surveys. Surveys would then become just like additional notes, something good to have but not a necessity. Rj rest assured ill try my best to make this happen

[Cbkimble]

I think it would be refreshing to see shipping costs separate from the deck costs. This way, no one can sneak in extra charges/profits by hiding them in the shipping. Make everything transparent and make people be up front about costs. Make people do their homework by pricing out what it costs to ship single decks versus multiple decks. I hate it when people claim shipping and "handling" is X amount per deck, but don't factor in multiple deck orders. For example, don't say you're claiming shipping and "handling" is going to cost $4 or more per deck (which is high) when we all know it doesn't cost $24 to ship 6 decks or $48 for a brick. This itemization of the actual shipping costs is almost becomes necessary if you're going to hold shipping costs in escrow as well.

Good point. Maybe have a shipping chart so no one can price gouge it. Have it on the main page.

[rjtomlinson1977]

I would also like to see an option you can select mulitpe reward levels. That way add-ons can be treated as a reward that can be selected and accounted for better. With KS you need to rely on the backer filling out the sruvey correctly.

I think this is an absolutely brilliant idea, this would eliminate the need for post campaign surveys. Surveys would then become just like additional notes, something good to have but not a necessity. Rj rest assured ill try my best to make this happen

Great!!! I hope you can make it happen!

[Mike Ratledge]

I agree totally, and the one thing I would like to see but don't think it can be done during the initial customization is the ability to make the pledge tier a "Check-List" where you can select multiple items, or at least more than one. Of course that means "EB" and limited tiers would be excluded, but it's a pipe dream for down the road. That would totally eliminate the problem, allow complete automation of shipping calculations, etc.

Using an example, you want 4 decks, an uncut and a coin. You pledge the total, you check off all three boxes and you're done. It shows you the shipping costs, that amount is automatically in escrow at the end of the project for fulfillment. I know it will not be available at first, but I think we can do it 'down the road'. It won't be easy, but it can be done.

[Afrank8]

You've mentioned partnerships with some mailing/shipping companies previously. Does that mean you can make international shipping cheaper or will it still be the sort of Kickstarter standard +$8-$12?

[Mike Ratledge]

You've mentioned partnerships with some mailing/shipping companies previously. Does that mean you can make international shipping cheaper or will it still be the sort of Kickstarter standard +$8-$12?

Well, I sort of oversimplified things, because each fulfillment center offers slightly different pricing and packing so prices are not exactly the same.

That being said, I really expect that this will be the 'cure' for problems including International shipping, as well as charging people in Canada the same thing as they charge to ship to Asia, which just isn't true - but that's the way most projects are set up. The 'clients' (managers/artists/designers) still negotiate with the fulfillment partners for their pricing, and it depends on volume. I'm certain that once we get going and the volume is high enough we can likely 'homogenize" that, but not at first.

Anyway, I am aiming for exactly that, to make shipping fair, and not allow people to 'hide' bonus points (read dollars!) in their shipping costs.

berfore Lorenzo headed off to bed this evening, he sent along the revised CL logo:

CL_color_logo_large.jpg (146.72 KiB) Viewed 1280 times

[rjtomlinson1977]

Nice logo!!

[lolo]

berfore Lorenzo headed off to bed this evening, he sent along the revised CL logo

I don't know why but I don't have a great feeling about it. When I look it, i can guess a relation to cards with the spade (and with the word card ) but I don't really feel "Internet", "crowfunding", "creation", "help for projects", "it's something new", ... It looks too serious, really classical.

it is imbalanced between right and left but, by side effect, this underlines the "card" word.

You don't "cut" the name of your site in your DNS name (CardLauncher.com). But in your logo, you cut it with the lines separing the two words. When you read it, it doesn't flow... It doesn't follow the movement of the eyes.

My two euro cents...

[montecarlojoe]

Are you suggesting maybe making the exhaust streams of the launching spade into the 'L' of 'Launcher' ?

Personally I like it the way it is - but it might be interesting to try if it doent render it unreadable...

[Mike Ratledge]

All done on purpose, folks. Lorenzo and I both think "outside the box", and it's not intended to be all things to all people, it's intended to be both eye catching, something to discuss and draw attention, as well as good artwork by Lorenzo as always. We listen, and the original was said to be "too plain". This one works for us, and I think it will work for everybody. If you don't care for it, I suppose that might be a problem, but the general consensus is that Lorenzo hit another one "out of the park".

It's not supposed to be perfectly balanced, either. It's supposed to be thought-provoking and draw your eye, I can't think of any way to do it better... We wanted something timeless to start with, and I think this fits perfectly. I'm sure over time we'll adjust the logos, just like PayPal just changed theirs. It's part of business these days.

We WANT a contrast, for example this was a 'classic' design by intent, and the company logo is forward-looking or even futuristic:

"Cyberian Way, LLC" is the company that wholly owns the CardLauncher.com website/portal.

[lolo]

Are you suggesting maybe making the exhaust streams of the launching spade into the 'L' of 'Launcher' ?

Personally I like it the way it is - but it might be interesting to try if it doent render it unreadable...

I just express my felling about the logo. It looks good but (for me) it doesn't really match the site theme/goal.

[Wilko]

Logo looks a bit lame in my opinion. Not too sure about the colors or fonts used. Like I say, just my opinion.
Is the person who designed it a graphic designer, illustrator or just someone who does it as a hobby?

[lolo]

Is the person who designed it a graphic designer, illustrator or just someone who does it as a hobby?

[IRONY ON]

Lorenzo is a teenager who just starts to do some really basic designs :
https://www.kickstarter.com/profile/req ... ds/created

[IRONY OFF]



Editorial comment: By the way, there IS no font: that is hand drawn by the master...

[Wilko]

See what you mean!!!
Nice deck. Still not too sure about the logo.
I am really hoping this new platform takes off though.

[lolo]

See what you mean!!!
Nice deck. Still not too sure about the logo.
I am really hoping this new platform takes off though.

As you have seen, I'm not sure about the logo too...

[dazzleguts]

I have to comment that typographically the squishing of the Launcher to make a balance gives me an uncomfortableness. A pyramid of the words with the spade on top and it's jet stream moving behind the words would be more logo like, balanced, and upward moving.

[chach]

So how does the announcement of the Kings Wild Funding program affect yoi? I assume Jackson isn't one of the big dogs you have lined up for launch?

http://kings-wild-project.myshopify.com ... entproject" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

It's been a long and exciting road over the past year starting and developing Kings Wild Project. As time goes my I hope is to make your experiences with Kings Wild Project more enjoyable than with any other playing card company. I want Kings Wild Project to become THE industry standard of what is expected for both quality and excellence both with design and also the customer experience.

 

With that I am happy to announce that over the past months I have been working with incredibly talented developers to harness the power of crowd-funding exclusively on the Kings Wild Website. This crowd funding platform will be exclusively for Kings Wild Project decks and projects alone. I already have projects lined up and ready to go with my new system and hope that this will be a great step forward in the growth and self sustainability of Kings Wild Project.

[snsdmonkey]

Nice question, was wondering the exact same thing when I got the notification.