Backer protection is built into Crowd Supply from the ground up. It’s part of our basic business philosophy, and is reflected in both our policies and our practices. We’ll take the rest of this section of the Backer Guide to explain exactly how that works.
We’re not going to sugar-coat this, backing a product before it goes to market does entail some inherent risk. Delays, shortages, design problems, and other unforeseen issues can delay or prevent a project from getting to market. When you back a crowdfunding campaign for a new product, you’re essentially placing a bet on the creator to come through on their end of the deal. Backers need to be comfortable with some degree of risk. That’s why we do as much as we can to tilt the odds in favor of backers and creators alike. This approach is proven to work: every project that has ever received funds through Crowd Supply has delivered to their backers (or is on track to do so). You are not funding someone’s pipe-dream; at Crowd Supply you are purchasing an actual product.
We carefully curate all the projects that launch on Crowd Supply. The majority of project submissions don’t make our cut. Those that do make it have:
A Good Product: We like products that are original, useful, and respectful.
A Good Plan to Raise Funds: Different funding goals require different approaches. We make sure the funds a project will likely raise align with its funding goal. We do this by looking at what kind of community the project has already built up, who else might be interested, what kind of messaging the project uses, pricing, the funding goal itself, and more.
A Good Plan to Spend Funds: Once a project raises funds, it needs to spend them to get the product manufactured. We make sure the project has a credible plan for coming up with the final products. We do this by looking at prototypes, the bill of materials (BOM), the experience of the project team and partners, tooling and fulfillment costs, and more.
For those projects that don’t pass this vetting process, we try to give them as much feedback as possible so they can improve their project and try again.
Once a project is accepted to launch on Crowd Supply, we take an active role in helping it succeed. From strategy and public relations, to fulfillment and media production, we offer a range of optional services to help a project wherever it’s needed most. In addition, to each new project, we bring the experience of having launched hundreds of other products. Of course, projects can also tap into the existing community of Crowd Supply creators - for example, our Provider Directory is a great resource for finding suppliers and manufacturers with a track record at Crowd Supply.
When you make a pledge, sign up for campaign updates or the Newsletter, or back a campaign on Crowd Supply, a user account is automatically created for you, based on the email you entered when you ordered. (Accounts are also created automatically for creators when they sign on to run a campaign.) You access your account from the user menu at upper right.
In addition to the usual profile information, which you can edit as needed, you will also see a list of your prior and current orders/pledges. You can see details for each transaction by clicking the “Order Details” link. If the order has not shipped, you can change details like quantities, shipping address, etc.
If you want to permanently delete your account, please contact us. We will delete your account and all of its associated history.
Details of our official return and cancellation policies are below. At a high level, our terms and policies can be summarized as:
Important Note that return and refund policies differ depending on whether the item being returned was purchased as a regular or pre-order, or if it was received from making a pledge to a crowd funding campaign. Items from a campaign pledge are refunded/replaced at the discretion of the creator. Regular or pre-orders are refunded by Crowd Supply. If you don’t understand the difference, please take a look at the Guide page on supporting campaigns.
At the discretion of the product creator, items committed to backers as a result of a crowd funding campaign may, or may not, be exchanged or refunded. The product creator is responsible for providing a good faith estimate of the product description, risks, and timeline for their projects. However, backers need to know that due to the uncertainties inherent in creating products during the early stage of development, changes to features, performance, and/or appearance may occur between when a project is originally presented and when it is produced. Reasons for this may include technology limitations, supply issues, or other factors outside of the developer’s control. Timelines may slip, and in rare instances a project that was funded may not be completed and delivered. Backers should only pledge to a creator’s project if they are comfortable accepting this risk. If a backer is dissatisfied with a product they should contact the project creator to express their concerns.
For all items pre-ordered from the Crowd Supply Store, customers can cancel their order for a refund (less transaction fees, if applicable) at any time prior to product shipment. For all items purchased from stock in the Crowd Supply Store, customers are provided a 30-day satisfaction guarantee. Should any item fail to meet your expectations, simply return the item in new condition and we will gladly exchange it, refund your purchase price with a store credit, or credit your credit card. If you’re not sure a product is going to work for you, we ask you please keep all packing materials for shipping, should you decide to return it. No return authorization number is necessary. Just ship your items back to us with a copy of your invoice or a printout of your confirmation email and a note indicating how you’d like us to handle the return (refund or exchange). Please include your daytime phone number in case we have any questions.
Please send all returns to our fulfillment center:
Crowd Supply, Inc.
340 SE 6th Ave
Portland, OR 97214
Contact us at info@crowdsupply.com to see how we can help.
Intro & Overview
Before Your Campaign Starts
During Your Campaign
After Your Campaign Concludes
Please send us your feedback on this Guide: guide-feedback@crowdsupply.com.