If this is your first time crowdfunding, you're probably wondering what comes next!

With the campaign wrapping up at 1pm Pacific Time tomorrow we wanted to take a moment to post a comprehensive guide to help you all through the surveys, manufacturing, and shipping journey that we're about to embark on together. The most important advice we can offer? Don't panic and don't hesitate to ask for help! 

Our team is here to make sure every issue gets resolved. You can always send an email to [email protected] for any support requests, which we'll happily get to during regular business hours.

If you don't want to read the entire update, please do look through this update for [Backer Action Items], where we share the steps you'll need to take to help us get your rewards shipped.

Upon conclusion of the campaign, BackerKit will immediately charge the card that you used to place the order. This mostly goes smoothly, but sometimes it doesn't. If your card fails to process, BackerKit will try again several times. If it still doesn't work, don't panic! Your backer information will still be in your account and you'll be able to try an alternative payment method when surveys are sent.

BackerKit takes two weeks to process payments and build a final report. Fourteen days after the campaign ends they will deposit funds to our bank account, minus their platform and processing fees. Meanwhile, we'll solidify manufacturing quotes with our fulfillment partners, based on the estimated numbers of each item ordered.

Once we have accurate backer and payment data from BackerKit we'll be able to email your backer surveys. It's essential that everyone fills our your surveys quickly. We'll let you know in advance when the surveys will be sent.

[Backer Action Item] – Whitelist messages from @backerkit.com in your email client. This is how we'll deliver your surveys and digital rewards.

The surveys will ask you to confirm your pledge and add-ons. If you're receiving physical rewards we'll also ask you for your shipping address, as well as charge VAT/GST when appropriate.

Every backer will be asked if you're a resident of Washington State. This is for tax purposes, so we can make an accurate payment to the state of taxes due.

Surveys will NOT calculate shipping charges yet—this is so we can make shipping as accurate and as affordable as possible. We will calculate and charge shipping right before fulfillment begins.

[Backer Action Item] – Complete your survey!

Every backer receiving physical goods will need to authorize payment details in the survey to cover shipping and handling. We operate these costs as a "pass-through" – we only charge actual costs (shipping, handling, card processing, VAT/GST) with no markup. Your cards will be charged for shipping later, right before we begin fulfillment, just in case we're able to find any additional savings and lower those costs.

We'll email survey reminders periodically, as well as posting BackerKit updates. The best way to stop receiving those reminder emails is to complete your backer survey!

Once at least 90% of backers have completed your reward surveys (the sooner the better, please!) we'll finalize our manufacturing orders and start production of all rewards.

We plan to manufacture almost every reward with a single manufacturer. This helps us avoid extra freight and complications. Once everything is finished at the factory, it will travel by freight to our fulfillment center in Los Angeles, and from there the packages will ship worldwide. Freight can take a minimum of 4-6 weeks, and possibly longer. This is the stage where we have the least control over delays

We wait to charge shipping costs for as long as possible, just in case we're able to find any additional savings and pass them along to you.  Shipping costs have risen dramatically since 2020, but occasionally fluctuations occur, especially in freight costs. 

Every backer will receive a 48-hour notice email and a BackerKit update telling you when we're charging cards for shipping, as well as instructions for how to postpone the card processing if the timing is bad for you.

We'll email a 48-hour notice when we plan to lock addresses. YOU CAN CHANGE YOUR ADDRESS AT ANY TIME between surveys going out and the address lock. Just access your BackerKit account and change it. There's no need to email us asking for a manual address change, just log into BackerKit!

[Backer Action Item] – Double-check your address and make sure it's correct.

After addresses are locked, we can't promise that you'll be able to change it again, as that's when we submit shipping information to our fulfillment partners.

Digital rewards will be fulfilled via your BackerKit account. You'll receive an email that will log you into that account, where all of your digital downloads will be available.

[Backer Action Item] – Log into BackerKit and download your digital rewards.

Our warehouses often ship in waves based on order complexity. With thousands of orders going out, some backers will receive rewards before others. We'll communicate through the process so you can follow along... and know when we're done!

Mail delivery is a rough and violent process that can cause all kinds of damage to innocent packages (typically between 1% and 4% of orders). If anything happens to any of your rewards in transit, we'll have a form you can fill out to get replacement items. We're totally committed to making sure that any merch damaged in transit is replaced at no additional cost to you.

Similarly, you can always reach out to us via our customer support email, with any other support requests or questions.

As we've learned in fulfilling prior campaigns post-COVID, best-laid plans are now more vulnerable to third-party delays and general weirdness in stressed supply chains (like the great cardboard shortage of 2021). While we always hope for the best, if we encounter problems in the delivery pipeline, we'll communicate them clearly with you, including explanations about what happened, what we're doing to mitigate it, and its affect on our timeline. 

Because we're all vulnerable to sudden scarcity, environmental disasters, market crashes, and other disasters, the best way we can respond is with mutual support in the face of adversity. Thank you in advance for your help and patience if we have to face any of these problems together!

All eighteen trivia questions are live!

To be eligible for the Loremaster patch (13 correct answers) and Loremaster title (18 correct answers), all answers must be selected by 1pm Pacific Time on Thursday, September 26.

Please be sure to visit the Trivia page before the campaign closes to lock your answers in. Then, come back when the campaign is over to check out your position on the leaderboard!