Tired of waiting ages to get your crowdfunded goodies? Indiegogo is shaking things up with a new feature designed to get products into your hands faster! Senior reporter Jay Peters shares the details of Indiegogo's upcoming 'Express Crowdfunding' format, which promises to revolutionize how creators ship their products. Instead of the usual wait until the campaign wraps up, creators can now start shipping while the campaign is still live.
This shift is a direct result of Indiegogo's recent integration with Gamefound, a board game crowdfunding platform. According to Indiegogo spokesperson Maciej Kuc, the move to a new infrastructure, originally built for Gamefound, prompted the change. This new tech was built with a different model in mind, one where a significant delay—at least two weeks—was expected between the campaign's end and the pledge manager phase. The pledge manager is when orders are finalized, new ones are added, and shipping details are collected.
One glaring example of the delays this system can cause is the Ayaneo Pocket AIR Mini retro gaming handheld campaign, as reported by Android Authority. Ayaneo aimed to ship the handheld by the end of November. However, due to platform policies, they couldn't gather shipping addresses until December 5th. This meant they couldn't move to the Pledge Manager phase until December 2nd, and the review process added about three more days. As a result, shipments were pushed back to 'around' December 10th.
But here's where it gets interesting: Indiegogo's new Express Crowdfunding format is slated to launch in early February. This means creators can potentially get their products to backers much sooner. This could be a game-changer for both creators and backers.
Could this new format lead to more successful campaigns? Will it truly speed up the shipping process, or will other factors still cause delays? What do you think about this change? Share your thoughts in the comments!
