For those not familiar with Kickstarter and its terms, here's a fictional example:
I am Catalyst, and want to produce a BattleFace box, and decide to Kickstart it. I determine that it will cost me $100,000 to get a full production run made. I set up the website on Kickstarter, and essentially tell folks that enough people pledge money that it totals $100,000, the box will get made. (Note: The money is only charged at the end of the Kickstarter. If not enough money is pledged by the time the Kickstarter ends, no money is charged at all, and the box doesn't get made.)
The Kickstarter goes live, and progresses well, with plenty of pledges. Since it looks like the interest is there, I start setting up stretch goals. I tell folks that if we reach $150,000 in pledges, the extra money will go towards making the rulebook hardcover instead of paperback. If we reach $200,000, the plain dice will be made of endo steel. If we reach $1,000,000, each box will contain a flute carved from the leg bones of my enemies, and so forth.
Note: the above is an entirely FICTIONAL example.
Right now, the main product is looking to be the Clan Box, of which the Mad Cat is the only confirmed mini out of five. The additional lance and star boxes are stretch goals, that will only happen if the campaign exceeds its goalby a certain amount. It is entirely possible for us to get the Clan box, but no Marauder box.
3 tips for Kickstarter newbs.
#1) Pledge a $1. Afraid you might not have the funds in your account the day the kickstarter ends? Just put in a dollar. Once the backer kit goes live, you'll be able to up your pledge. Are you only interested in a stretch goal and don't know if it'll make it? Just pledge a dollar. You'll get the backer updates and once the goal you want is available you can always up your pledge. If it doesn't and your forget to cancel your pledge, you're only out a dollar.
#2) Kickstarter is NOT a preorder. There is always a risk with kickstarters You're not preordering, you're investing in a new product. If successful, you're investment is paid back with product. If the price of plastic suddenly quadruples driving Randell into a mad rage causing him to delete all the only copies of the 3D files for the minis and PDFs for the new books, then you're just out of luck. Related to this, if a iskickstarter saying they're to deliver August 2020, expect it by August 2021 and just be pleasantly surprised if it's earlier than that.
#3) Don't just bid $1! Does nothing I brought up in #1 apply to you? Then make sure your bid is high enough to get everything you want. The more everyone pledges, the faster we unlock stretch goals which means better deals, more add ons, or both. Just don't try to get cheeky by pledging a lot to get stretch goals and then lowering your pledge back to what you can actually afford. Kickstarter recognizes this and will kick you out.
To follow up on these two, excellent posts: How does this whole thing work for a customer?
DISCLAIMER: THIS POST IS BASED ON PERSONAL EXPERIENCE OF KICKSTARTING PHYSICAL PRODUCTS, I HAVE NO INSIDE INFORMATION, THERE ARE NO CLUES ABOUT WHAT THE CLAN BOX KICKSTARTER WILL DELIVER IN THIS POST
When the Kickstarter goes live, there'll be a page on their site with the blurb, sample photos, and most importantly, a list of pledge levels. These generally start at $1 and go all the way up to some exorbitant sum.
The first couple of pledge levels provide either a nominal or minimal reward - being added to a list of thank yous on the website and/or in the rulebook is common, access to digital versions of the rulebook and play aids is another. But the real meat is in the pledge levels that offer physical rewards.
The basic physical reward level is usually the baseline product plus any upgrades to it unlocked during the campaign. Like going from a paperback rulebook to hardback in Weirdo's example. Or with Shadowrun Sprawl ops, one of the stretch goals was putting a foil effect on the board - every copy of the game has that, nobody had to pay extra. Well-researched Kickstarters will have shipping costs worked out in advance and they'll clearly be listed, as well as a tag to say if the product has a distribution centres outside the US, letting people know in advance if they need to risk paying import fees. In fact, the high shipping costs meant that I only backed the Eclipse Phase 2nd Edition Kickstarter at a digital level, because it'll be cheaper for me to buy the book locally when it comes out.
Above that, the pledge levels tend to be more stuff - multiple copies of the product, the product + a bunch of add-ons that are either available to begin with or are unlocked as stretch goals, and the top couple tend to have unique benefits - get added to the product as a character, go to dinner with the creators, stuff like that. Generally those top tier pledge levels have limited numbers.
So, when the kickstarter ends, what happens? If it doesn't fund, nothing. We don't get charged any cash, the creators go back to the drawing board. If it does fund, you'll be charged whatever your pledge level was within a couple of days of the end.
That money is now gone, regardless of what happens to the project. There will be periodic updates from the creators on how work is progressing, and estimates of release. As Darkspade says, the estimate release date listed on the Kickstarter is advisory, and is rarely met. The production company is basically promising to make the product that was funded, plus anything they said they'd add as a stretch goal, be that upgrades to the original product or additional products.
Within a week or two of the campaign conclusion, where the kickstarter has sufficiently complex product options, a storefront will be opened, and everyone who pledges will be given access. Here you will confirm your pledge, shipping details, and if there are options to choose from, you will confirm them here also. Generally there will also be options to purchase additional products at this point - usually this means more of what is being offered in the Kickstarter, but it can sometimes be other items the publisher offers. This storefront is only open for a limited time, and generally each person can only use it once. So you need to be hundo p sure that you have everything you want selected before finishing up. You will then be charged for any change to your pledge, shipping, and anything else you purchased.
That money is also now gone, regardless of what happens to the project.
And then, everything going well, we'll all get our Clan box sets, lance and star packs, and anything else that comes out of the campaign in a timely manner.