Ask HN: Alternatives to Kickstarter?
Unfortunately, the time it's taken me to design this has meant that I haven't had a full-time job in over a year. So, I don't really have the $40k or so it'd take to build 1000 first-run units.
As such, my first thought turns to kickstarter. But they charge 5% fees on the project, plus the 3.5% credit card fees, plus I may have to pay Philips patent royalties (probably not since these are prizes, not sales), plus I may have to do FCC certification tests (probably not since these are prizes, not sales), the list of "incidental" expenses goes on and on.
I think I might be able to do better if I could do something equivalent to kickstarter pre-orders on my own website, but how does one go about managing an eskrow of this kind? Is it possible, or is the only reason it works because kickstarter is there to manage it and make sure that the eskrow works properly? It may not sound like much, but that 5% overhead fee is a noticeable chunk of my revenue; enough that I have to remove components from the light to accommodate it.
If anyone is curious also, here is a link to the schematic: http://db.tt/ResLCCbY
It started with a lot more stuff, then got pared down to almost nothing, then had a lot more stuff added again, and then got pared down again... I think that everything that's left is going to be legitimately useful and cool to have available.