Kickstarter experience as a backer

Before you launch your Kickstarter campaign, it is important to have an idea of the experience from the side of a backer.

Why you should back a Kickstarter project before you launch your own:

1. You can get a sense of what draws you to a specific project and use what you learned in your campaign to draw in others.
2. You can help trouble shoot problems or explain the process to your friends/family/fans that have questions for you.
3.  Ensure your backers have the best experience possible.

How backing a Kickstarter project helped me

After failing my first Kickstarter campaign I waited 3.5 months before launching my next campaign.  The best thing I did during that time was back 3 other projects.  This was to learn the process of what others were doing and they were projects that I wanted to see created.

The biggest thing I learned was that the funding could be done through existing Amazon accounts and was really easy.  Before backing I did know Amazon did all the financial part of Kickstarter, but I thought Kickstarter had their own credit card payment page.  I found out people can pay using their existing account and this makes backing a project an easier sell to those who worry about sharing their credit card information online.

Emails backers get

Another thing I got to experience was the emails backers get from the process.

The emails backers receive are:

1) THANK YOU for the pledge (received when they initially back project)

{Top shows the image of the project and the title}

Pledge Summary

AMOUNT PLEDGED

$00.00 {amount}

REWARD

Lists the rewards as they are on the Kickstarter page

ESTIMATED DELIVERY

{month}, {year}
If this project is successfully funded, your card will be charged on:

{a date the credit car will be charged}

When your reward is ready, {project} will send you a survey via email to request any info needed to deliver your reward (mailing address, t-shirt size, etc).

2) Authorized Project to charge you (received a few days before being charged)

This one I didn’t post here, because it looks like the “successful payment” email (the next one).  This email says the same, but gives the backer a heads up that they are about to be charged and for what.

3) Successful payment (received day after being charged)

 Greetings from Amazon Payments,

We wanted to let you know that we successfully completed a payment to {project} for $00.00 on {date}. This payment is related to the payment authorization listed below:

Payment details:
—————
Transaction ID: {#}
Recipient: {Name of project creator}
Amount: $00.00 {amount}
For: Pledging $00.00 to {project name} on Kickstarter.
Payment method: {How you will pay}
Reference: KICKSTARTER COM

To view or cancel existing payment authorizations:
1.Log into your Amazon Payments account by visiting https://payments.amazon.com/ .
2.Click on the “Edit Your Account Settings” link.
3.Select “Change my payment authorizations”.
4.Click to select the authorization that you want to view or cancel.

If you’d like to change the payment method used for this payment authorization, please return to Kickstarter’s web site. You should find a link to change your payment method there.

Thank you for using Amazon Payments.

Transaction details and your account history are also available online athttps://payments.amazon.com/. Please refer to https://resolutioncenter.payments.amazon.com/cobranded-ui/actions/DisputeInitialisationAction.do for inquiries about any errors.

4) Thanks you (received a few days after being charged)

Thanks to you, {project name} by {project creator} has been successfully funded!

Congratulations!

Thanks to you and {#} other backers, {project name} has been successfully funded. Amazon will now charge your credit card.

Pledge Summary
Amount pledged: $00.00
Reward: {Reward description from Kickstarter page}
Estimated delivery: {Month} {Year}

When your reward is ready, {Project Creator} will send you a survey via email to request any info needed to deliver your reward (mailing address, T-shirt size, etc).

If you’d like to visit the project page, click here:
{Projects link}

These are the emails that all backers get.  My advice to you is to go ahead and back someone else’s project in order to experience the process yourself.  Even if it is for $1 or find a project you love and back more.  I feel by doing this you show the Kickstarter community that you support others and gives you an idea of what your backers will experience.