I get it. Kickstarters run late. Kickstarters blow up (9k goal and raised over 291k) Equipment breaks down. Shit happens.
I do get that.
Over 4 years late, no update since July on the Artisan Dice Does Handcrafted Polyhedrals Kickstarter and its selling product to retailers when some Kickstarter backers are still waiting over 4 years?
That shit is like Gareth Junior type of Kickstarter running.
It sees like someone has a bad business plan.
Now, I know Artisan Dice takes a long time to fulfill their KS orders. I backed their earlier wooden dice set and that too forever. I don't remember accusations that they were filling retail orders at the time. They just seemed to be overwhelmed.
Here's the online store for Artisan Dice
The thing is, their BBB ranking is in the tank:
Apparently they are deleting negative comments from their Facebook page too (see comments on the KS page)
Are you still waiting on your dice?
They did say while the KS was still active they would continue doing retail as they fulfilled KS backers because they need to keep the lights on. I took forever to get my dice (and had to have the wood type substituted because of availability), but they do seem like to be acting in good faith as a non-professional organization, ie) something someone does in their garage on their spare time.
ReplyDeleteI'd definitely buy from them again, just you know, ideally in person so I can have goods in hand.
1. This is Charlie's full time job, and he employs several people full time. This is their profession, not their spare time gig.
Delete2. They've deleted comments on Facebook simply asking for an update after 3+ months without any word from them. That's not good faith.
3. In December 2013 they stated in a Kickstarter update that all of the metals were being machined (except Niobium which they hadn't received yet), and in August 2014 they stated that 95% of all metal dice had been machined and polished. It's now more than three years later, and the last we heard, they were still having to machine more metal dice... They've lied throughout this process, so please don't pretend they're good-hearted guys who haven't done anything wrong.
Regardless of if it IS their full time gig or not is irrelevant to me, how he runs his business is his problem.
DeleteI am giving my feedback of what dealing with them was like and it seemed a lot like dealing with someone's side business. If its his full time gig and he flat out sucks at business acumen has no bearing to me on if he's acting in good faith or not, only if he's competent (which isn't the same thing).
Being shitty at your job isn't the same thing as being a shitty person anymore than being good at your job makes you a good person (which isn't to say he can't be both shitty at his job and shitty as a person, I don't know the guy).
I have bought from them twice post-Kickstarter, and I love their products.
ReplyDeleteThey admit that the KS money went too fast and didn’t cover the cost of fulfilling the KS. So now, they sell retail and put some of their profits into fulfilling the KS that they cannot currently afford to fulfill. This is their words paraphrased by me. I do not vouch for them, other than saying they have fulfilled two awesome retail orders for me.
I remember that excuse from the first KS - I backed it.
DeleteThis is their second KS - apparently they didn't learn from the first one...
Don't have a dog in this race but if they are actively fulfilling orders, even a few week as they are able it would demonstrate they at least have the intent of fulfilling and haven't walked a way.
ReplyDeleteBut I have no details.
The problem is that on pages discussing it (like the Dice Maniacs Club on Facebook) the owner of the company has been openly hostile/aggressive with people that have posted about the KickStarter OR orders after the KickStarter from the online store that have gone a year or more without being sent. If he was a good guy that admitted he was over his head and doing the best he could as quickly as he could ... I would be right there with you Jolly but he definitely has not taken that approach at all.
DeleteJolly, the thing is we have no idea about that though, because after telling us in May that we'd get weekly updates from then on, we got 6 updates over the course of 3 months, and we haven't heard anything else in almost 6 months since the last update (January 26 will be 6 months).
DeleteThey've also taken to deleting any comments or questions about Kickstarter from their Facebook page and blocking people there.
It seems when dice makers are good they are really good (e.g. Impact, Zucati) and when they are bad they are stupendously bad.
ReplyDeletePrism Dice : Handmade from Bulletproof Glass by Relic Dice is another KS train wreck. Due Sept 2016, 824 backers maybe 30 sets shipped.
Thanks Johnny ... appreciate it! Yeah ... I have a couple dice KickStarters that I participated with ... money dust to the winds for those backers. Merged D6 was one, Pulse dice was another and Hydra dice was a third.
DeleteMerged D6 - Partners had a disagreement and ended working together and they just vanished with the money as a result (one went to Japan)
Pulse Dice - Anon took the money and never send anything ... he shows up about once a year saying he wishes he could fix it ... gets offered help and then vanishes again.
Hydra Dice - complete trainwreck. The comments follow him from losing his wife, to losing his wife to going to jail for assault
So yeah you are right ... my experience with dice is when they go bad ... grab the popcorn ... its going to be a show
Kickstarter really needs some kind of top-end option so that creators can stay in some sort of predictable range between "paying for startup costs" and "death by going viral". It would also be nice if they had some sort of worksheet to help creators understand their costs so that they aren't financially ruined because they forgot that shipping isn't free. None of that will happen because Kickstarter collects their fee up front and has no real interest in whether projects succeed or not.
ReplyDeleteWhy is the owner wasting time on Facebook instead putting his nose to the grindstone (or the sander) & taking care of business.
ReplyDeleteHmmm. You expect quality dice from somebody who has no leisure time? That's a guarantee to make more mistakes, ignore mistakes, deliver sub-par products. Saying: "Why don't you work 18 hours, it's possible!" is the same as demanding a sub-par product that has been knocked without any care.
DeleteNot affiliated with them, but the consideration of work time vs quality stays the same - in pretty much all endeavors going towards a finished product.
I agree with you. But if you are months or even years behind on your commitments it's time to put all distractions aside get to work. Also I doubt one could enjoy their free time if they had all these outstanding commitments.
DeleteI bought 3 products from them in the last 2 months or so. The wooden set that's a surprise till you open, Scotch Rocks set, and a special candy cane Christmas die (and expensive). I ordered all items that were "available" and they all arrived fast. I'm going to do a special order set in the next week or so.
ReplyDeleteI’d advise only ordering in stock dice from them. I ordered an amber d20 and didn’t get it for 8 months. It turns out they were having issues with making them. They made good on store credit and then some. I’ll definitely buy from them again, unless something changes. I’m sorry for the backers that are currently getting burned though.
ReplyDelete