In mid 2020 I backed a game on Kickstarter that was being made by Holy Grail Games. Because of China and Covid and some clown getting a boat stuck in the Suez and a host of other problems, their projects were delayed. Last October the product was shipped from China to Montreal to be distributed by Bollare. Bollare had already been partially paid and was under contract to ship the four Holy Grail Games projects. Bollare had the product by Thanksgiving but outprioritized for larger projects. Because Holy Grail had promised in the campaign that their product would not be in stores until the backers had been fulfilled, they did not release their product into stores. Because of some incomplete orders and other shipping mistakes, Holy Grail asked to have them corrected before making final payment. Bollare stopped shipping all of the Holy Grail products demanding full payment. Holy Grail cannot make a full payment because Bollare hasn't been shipping the product for them to make money. Today, Holy Grail announced their bankruptcy.
So in some warehouse in Montreal, sits a pile of stuff that is supposed to go into a box and be shipped to me. Do I technically own that stuff? Does Bollare own that stuff? Does Holy Grail own that stuff via receivership? Could a contract lawyer pick apart that Bollare contract looking for violations and start a class action on behalf of all the North American Holy Grail backers who don't have their product?
The shipping company holds the goods of a defunct company. They will liquidate to recover their losses. Happens everyday.
And this is why I always tell people that any money you put in to a kick starter you had also better be willing to set that money on fire. It is one of the most risky ways to invest money.
Fueled by Caffeine said:
The shipping company holds the goods of a defunct company. They will liquidate to recover their losses. Happens everyday.
Seems like shipping companies may have a perverse incentive to find small companies moving large amounts of product that they can screw over in an attempt to scuttle them. They get paid some up front money, do a little bit of work, then collapse the company by destroying their reputation through shipping issues. The shipping company then gets a large windfall of new "second hand" product.
The small company will cease to exist and if the big companies stay happy the overall performance reputation of the shipping company won't take a hit.
dean1484 said:
And this is why I always tell people that any money you put in to a kick starter you had also better be willing to set that money on fire. It is one of the most risky ways to invest money.
I invested in one kickstarter, for a $30 item, once. After a year of empty promises, I figured it was a total loss and whatever. A full 2 years after I paid for the item on kickstarter, I got a package in the mail with no return address, and I crap you not- it was the product I ordered! I couldn't believe it, haha.
It still works well too! Just had to be reeaaalllllllllly patient.
dean1484 said:
And this is why I always tell people that any money you put in to a kick starter you had also better be willing to set that money on fire. It is one of the most risky ways to invest money.
I wouldn't even call it an investment, more like a risky preorder.
Johnboyjjb said:
Fueled by Caffeine said:
The shipping company holds the goods of a defunct company. They will liquidate to recover their losses. Happens everyday.
Seems like shipping companies may have a perverse incentive to find small companies moving large amounts of product that they can screw over in an attempt to scuttle them. They get paid some up front money, do a little bit of work, then collapse the company by destroying their reputation through shipping issues. The shipping company then gets a large windfall of new "second hand" product.
The small company will cease to exist and if the big companies stay happy the overall performance reputation of the shipping company won't take a hit.
Not really. The shipping company doesn't want whatever is in those packages. They didn't get paid, so they don't deliver. Disposing of the boxes is a lot less profitable than delivering them. The sheer amount of overhead involved in dealing with them probably makes it a loss overall.
In reply to Keith Tanner :
Agreed with Keith. Transportation companies make more money by delivering items. Liquidation gives you Pennies on the dollar and inventory sitting in a depot takes up space you could use for freight.
Can they even find the box 3 years later?
We had a container of hose get lost in the Chicago railroad yard a year ago. Still looking for it.
In reply to dean1484 :
I agree 100%. I've backed three things, and I've recieved all three. The cheapest, something like $50 or $60 worked, but not terribly well. The other two, $450 for one, $600 for the other were shipped in a reasonable time and worked as expected. But yeah, it's a risky preorder for sure.
