DOOMSDAY ROBOTS

A Backer is More than a Customer

An article I read recently repeated the tired old refrain that big publishers harm small publishers by using crowdfunding when they could fund the product themselves. But I, a small publisher and researcher, prefer to have big sexy projects listed on the same platform as mine. These bring legitimacy and a ton of people to crowdfunding which helps get more eyeballs on my projects.

But there is something these publishers do that really does harm small publishers like myself. They treat backers like customers. Not only is this disrespectful to backers but it erodes the basis of crowdfunding.

But aren’t backers basically customers? Sure, they both pay money for a product. But the backer has an additional cost – risk, and that risk has value. When you treat a backer like a customer, you aren’t valuing that risk. You’re saying it doesn’t matter.

A prime example of not valuing that risk is when publishers sell product to customers before delivering it to backers. Say you’re browsing social media and see that your buddy just picked up a copy of Ultra Miniature Dungeon from his FLGS, a game you backed on Kickstarter but haven’t received. You think about how you’d love to play the game. You’ve been invested in it emotionally for months. At times you’ve even worried you wouldn’t get it.

But there it is, the same game (you couldn’t afford the super deluxe edition after all) in your buddy’s hands. Someone who didn’t fret and pine for months. Someone who didn’t tie up their money for the past year and a half. Someone who didn’t even have to pay shipping! Someone who risked nothing – he just went to the store and bought it. It isn’t fair and you feel like a chump.

You complain on social media, and everyone tells you that you are entitled.

“Don’t you want the publisher to make money?”
“If you can’t handle it, you shouldn’t back projects.”
“You should just wait for retail.”

Or said another way,

“You should just be a customer.”

And so they do – why take the risk after all? But crowdfunding doesn’t survive on customers; it needs backers. Backer risk is the very ecosystem upon which crowdfunding depends. Valuing it is what keeps the crowdfunding scene healthy for everyone.

We at Doomsday Robots consider the following as basic requirements for valuing your backers’ risk.

Prioritizing backers for product delivery (unless its been communicated up front otherwise)
Giving consistent and clear updates to your backers on the status of the project
Being transparent about how backer money is being allocated
Not spending backer investment on expenses unrelated to the project they backed

Here are some other ways you can value your backers’ risk:

Upgrading your backers’ product for free or at reduced cost
Discounting the product for backers
Offering exclusive content / upgrades to backers
Reducing the shipping burden on backers
Permanent backer recognition
Giving backers control over the some part of product direction

Publishers, if you choose to crowdfund, don’t simply treat your backers customers, but rather as partners and investors who, like you, are taking a risk to bring your project to life. And if you can’t do that, then fund the game yourself.

Bryn Smith