Getting Sh*t Done
Or, F*ck Me I Ordered the Double-Whopper!
I recently received an inquiry via my website:
How much do you charge backers for shipping domestic and international?
Did you also use Comix Wellspring for fulfillment?
If so, do you have to manually fill out their backer reward list excel sheet one by one or is there a way to bulk copy and paste whatever csv file kickstarter sends you to their excel sheet?
Before I dive into these questions, a quick ad for my upcoming Kickstarter campaign:
American Yakuza, Act II — Pre-launch on Kickstarter!
Okay, lemme just paste my answers here and you can read my whole stream of consciousness:
I only used CWS for printing — I never pay anyone else for fulfillment. There are several reasons for this:
Fulfillment services cost $$ and indie comics are already operating on razor-thin margins
It’s not difficult to fulfill successfully yourself — you just gotta plan!
Postage is more expensive using a fulfillment service, no matter what they tell you.
So, I may not have offered you the help you were looking for, haha. If you have a Kickstarter ending on, say, August 1st, you won’t see payment from Kickstarter (or Zoop, whatever) until August 15th (and it may not be in your bank, yet). So let’s say August 20th…
…you (if you planned well) are already prepared1 for your print order as soon as funds hit, so you order on the 20th. The CWS team, assuming no issues with your files, will get you your proof (if digital) within 10 business days. I do not recommend your first order with *any* printer use digital proofs — get a physical one to make sure you can inspect what you expect.
Okay, so now we’re into September (your campaign ended on 8/1, remember?) because it’ll take at least 2 weeks for the printer to get you a proof. Now, let’s say it’s September 1st you get the proof. It’s perfect. Hot DAMN! You approve it and CWS has no backlog so you get your final order in another two (2) weeks. It’s now September 14th.
The books arrive. Flawlessly. Double hot damn! Now, you gotta fulfill.
Hopefully, with planning, you ordered everything you need to fulfill (Gemini mailers or comparable, packing tape, bags & boards, markers to sign books (if you’re signing), all the extra swag you promised, etc.), so it’s time to get down to business.
I’m a solo operator and I can pack & ship over 4 dozen (48) packages in a few hours a day. Let’s be generous and say I’m organized enough to pack 50/day. My last campaign had 200+ Backers so it’ll take me at least 4 days to fulfill (assuming no supply issues or delays). If you’re keep track of time it’s now September 18th. My campaign ended on 8/1. We’re 45 days post-campaign. Nobody has received anything yet because the USPS isn’t that efficient. At all.
Set expectations early: if your campaign is going to end on 8/1, then tell your Backers that your campaign will be delivered/fulfilled by November.
Because:
If you run out of tape, you can buy more down the street or via Amazon: +1 day
If you run out of Gemini mailers (or equivalent) you can buy more: +7-10 days
If you run out of any promised merch or bonus swag you’re f*cked: +30 days
So, PLAN. PLAN. PLAN. PLAN. PLAN. And then… PLAN AGAIN!
But, if you’re using a fulfillment company: PLAN!
And then plan to spend more $$$.
If your campaign is for a 24pg comic with no variants, and no bonus swag except digital stuff, then let’s say your costs per issue (just for printing, not getting art completed) is $1000 and you have 200 Backers. Cool. Each Backer costs you $5. You averaged $25 per Backer so you’re good, right?
Maybe.
Each Backer in the USA, alone, will cost you an additional:
$1 for Gemini Mailers (or equivalent)
$1 for bag & board (less, but go with it)
$4-6 postage
Your $5 cost just became $11-13. Hopefully you’re using Pirateship to bring that postage down a little because now your margins are even tighter: at $25/Backer and $11-13 cost/Backer you’re only making $12-14/Backer. Gods I hope you sold a shitload of digital… I’m sure it cost you more than $12-14 to get the art alone. ANYWAY…
We haven’t talked international yet — Int’l Backers can cost $18-60USD in shipping alone.
There goes your margins.
But, you’re smart. You use Pirateship’s Simple Export Rate. Dude, kudos!
But it still costs you $16-30/Backer for shipping alone. Buckle-up, boyo.
All of a sudden you’re in the hole and you lost money on your first comic all because shipping is a b*tch.
Well, yes and no.
You just gotta… you guessed it… PLAN better!
I recommend finding out how much your book(s) weigh plus the weight of shipping materials (Gemini Mailer, any tape weight, bag weight, etc.) and get a quote from Pirateship (or whomever — can you tell I recommend Pirateship?) and offload that cost to your backers. Factor in the cost of the supplies, too!
If a mailer costs me $1, and labels + tape + time cost me another $1, and shipping costs me $6, then I’m charging $8 shipping. I have a little wiggle-room to help if I f*cked up, but not enough to wreck my shipping or hurt the Backers. Apply that to each country to which you plan to ship.
You will probably f*ck up and lose more on your first campaign. Join the club. But, don’t stay there!
If you track everything — EVERYTHING — in a spreadsheet, you can revisit and re-evaluate for the next campaign. Over time, you’ll have it down to a science. Or art. Your choice. Haha.
For perspective: a fulfillment company, on the CHEAP, will charge you $4-6/Backer plus shipping. You have to decide if that’s an acceptable cost to get your books out. You also cannot sign these books (if that’s a thing you hope to do). If you do sign them, add another $5 per Backer in cost to ship the signed books to the fulfillment center. Which is a really, REALLY bad idea.
That should’ve been a newsletter post not a reply, ROFLMAO.
And, now it’s a newsletter post…
~Charlie~
By “prepared” I mean you have all of the files (inks, colors, letters) in-hand, assembled, edited, checked again, pre-press work done, more checks/edits, and the final file(s) is/are ready for print with no further intervention on your part. Most new creators underestimate this part of the job.