Within weeks of the kickstarter finishing, before the kickstarter had even delivered or even started manufacturing the cases, they were for sale on Aliexpress.
It seems so easy for someone in China to do this. Look for successful product kickstarters and you already have market validation. Something like a selfie stick case would be so easy to set up a production run for.
Chinese companies troll RFPs for bridge and other designs. In this case, my friend saw a unique bridge/overpass that he was associated with in some obscure province that was completed before the original. He knew it was their design because it did not include changes that were made after the contract award.
- doing a Kickstarter to get people to prepay? That way at least your first batch can be paid for before you shell out any money, OR
- just giving away the design so at least your product sees the light of day, even if there's no financial gain for you?
Do you work for free?
I made two suggestions: one of which might provide a path to revenue, and another which, whilst providing no revenue, would also cost nothing, and require virtually no additional effort beyond that already expended.
Sorry.
I bet it's a large contingent.
The market doesn't care about who has the best idea, or who had it first, it only cares about who comes to market with the best deal for the consumer.
By the time the product made it through customs his “partner” had sold thousands.