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(i cant find a stack relating to "Crowdfunding" or similar so decided to put this in here, please feel free to migrate it to a more suitable stack if you know of one)

I am currently running a Kickstarter project that ends in 3 days and it looks like it will be successfully funded (yay!)

In the end it looks like I will need to ship around 150 "rewards" out to backers.

Ok so here is my question:

These rewards are small (credit card size) and will be shipped singly from the UK to all over the world, probably in a jiffy bag. Given that these are a "Reward" ie a gift for backing the project, can i legally mark them as "gift" (s) on the shipping declarations?

Additionally, a large number of the backers are in the USA, is there a way to ship all the items (say 100) in a single package over the pond, and then have them dispersed on the other side, thereby significantly reducing shipping costs and the chances of any going missing?

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2 Answers

up vote 1 down vote

Congrats!! To answer your question no you shouldn't ship it as a gift. As it states on the right side of KickStarter, under How to Price, all rewards should be budgeted for shipping. Can you ship it as a gift, yes, would I no. You could get in serious trouble and its technically not a gift because you were paid.

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EDIT:

It also asks you if you wanted to include a fee shipping outside your country. Mine is US but yours may be UK. I doubt any difference:

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Its a complicated one isnt it - I asked £4 for shipping which will easily cover P&P but, I dont want all recipients having to pay import duty on what is only a £12 item, I dont know how it works in the US but here the royal mail holds your item, sends you a letter, and charges you quite a bit for the priviledge, not to mention the added time of up to 2 weeks. – Darkcat Studios Feb 12 at 18:16
@DarkcatStudios if its only £12, it is likely to be exempt from import duty in most places. I've received much more expensive stuff from out of country and had no problems with the customs. – littleadv Feb 13 at 0:39
That said, shipping 100 of them together will definitely trigger customs check and import duty. – littleadv Feb 13 at 0:39
up vote 1 down vote

Do a google search on "kickstarter fulfillment" - there are a few service providers that can help you out with the logistics. Shipwire has an program catered to this specific need - and has a few case studies that may be helpful.

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