How It Works
Crowd Supply is a store and a crowdfunding platform,
supporting independent product design and manufacturing. We welcome the next generation of social funding and
seek to democratize the process of creating hardware and tangible goods
companies.
Seamless Funding and Shopping
Rather than get in the way of product sales, we
welcome them, and provide seamless opportunities for consumers to get involved
at any stage of a product lifecycle. Traditional crowdfunding sites can be
frustrating to shop on: just at the point when a project is most popular,
funding campaigns are closed, making the product unavailable. On Crowd Supply,
a product smoothly transitions from gathering early backers, to accepting
pre-orders, to shipping.
Reduced Risk
Once a project has been succesfully funded, it enters
the "pre-order" stage. Customers may place pre-orders for the
product, which are cancellable up until the pre-order stage ends when the first
batch of units is ready to ship.
Product Development Transparency
Crowd Supply works with creators to ensure projects
have a credible execution plan and transparent schedule. The delivery date
estimate for each backer is set according to this plan and the current demand.
Backers will clearly understand where they are in the delivery queue for all
projects they support.
Support For Creators
Our goal is for all products launched on Crowd Supply
to blossom into successful hardware companies which continue to innovate. To
support that goal, Crowd Supply provides a foundation of relationships and
services. Of course, creators keep total control of the direction of their
products, and full rights to any past, present, and future intellectual
property.
Project Timeline
Here's an example timeline for a typical project on
Crowd Supply.
14 days prior to launch
The creator sets up a Crowd Supply account and submits
an application. The preliminary project plan is provided for review and
approval. If accepted, the creator agreement is signed by the creator and Crowd
Supply.
At least 7 days prior to launch
Campaign marketing content is provided to Crowd
Supply, and a preview project page is made available. The campaign launch date
is scheduled.
Launch date
Campaign launches to the public. Crowd Supply may
feature the campaign, and PR outreach begins. Visitors to the page may elect to
participate by "backing" a particular pledge level. While the
campaign's total pledges are below the target fundraising threshold, payment
information will be verified, but pledges will not be captured immediately.
0-45 days after launch
The campaign reaches its funding target. At this time,
campaign pledges are captured. Funds are available to the creator as soon as
payments have settled, less a 5% fee to Crowd Supply and any payment processing
fees.
45 days after launch
Fundraising campaign is closed. At this point, funds
for all pledges will be made available the project creator. The product enters "pre-order" mode. New
customers may participate by electing to pre-order the product, but funds are
not captured. Instead, the customer's payment information is verified, and a
spot in the order queue is held.
When a campaign is initially planned, the creators and
Crowd Supply staff set a "cap" on the maximum number of units that
can reasonably be obligated to the fundraising stage. It is expected that this
cap not usually be reached--however, if the cap is reached, the project will
immediately convert to pre-order mode, regardless of whether or not it was
scheduled to do so.
0-12 months after launch
Once the product has been manufactured and initial
units are shipped, fundraising pledges are filled. Backers will receive an
email shipping confirmation with a tracking number as soon as their order is
shipped. After all fundraising pledges are filled, funds for
all pre-orders are captured and available to creators. Pre-orders are
"priced" the same as fundraising pledges: a 5% fee is paid to Crowd
Supply. At this point, a wholesale price is set, and Crowd
Supply places an initial stock order for the product.
Ongoing
After the stock order is placed, responsibility for
pricing and content falls to Crowd Supply. At this point, the relationship
turns into a more traditional ecommerce vendor relationship.
