Kickstarter: Saving Money in a Different Way

Kickstarter: Saving Money in a Different Way

Kickstarter is a website that is pretty simple: People post projects asking for funding and offering rewards. People fund those projects. The projects have a fundraising goal: if they hit the goal they get the money, if they don't: no money. All transactions occur through Amazon.

How does Kickstarter relate to deals:

  • many rewards are below retail cost of future product
  • extra rewards offered that cannot be measured in money: autographs, limited edition, etc
  • often get free shipping or discounted shipping to Canada

How does Kickstarter relate to Canadians:

  • Can support Canadian projects
  • get in on international goods often not accessible to the Canadian market.
  • shipping is often free to Canada, or reduced compared to international.

Here is a project I am currently funding that is a fabulous example of truly getting a good deal via Kickstarter:

  • MySaver: protection for your iPad, iPhone, and iPod cables (shown above):
    This awesome gadget will help protect your cords from that horrible syndrome known as 'broken cord.' Right now for a mere $8 you get the MySaver:DIY Kit, which will retail for $10.99. Saves you $2.99. Not only that, you get free shipping to Canada. They have an extra promo too: If they reach 3000 backers every backer ($8 + backers) gets an extra MySaver:DIY Kit (or $10 credit for the Pro kit). They have other great rewards for more $$ too: including 3 of of the MySaver: DIY Kits for only $19... which saves you even more!

Now for the disclaimer: Not all Kickstarter campaigns are 'great deals,' partially because of the vast genre (music, art, design, fashion, comics, photography, etc) of projects. Also some rewards just suck, lets be honest. Be a SMART consumer. Choose projects that you like, will get something out of that feels worth what you put in and always read all the details (note shipping costs, etc).

I am currently backing 8 projects. One of my favourite buys so far was custom made jeans to my exact dimensions for $68 a pair. :-D A steal of a deal!

P.S: Want a cool Canadian project? Check SurfEasy out <--- totally fab!

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