How well this campaign is doing, compared to your previous one.
Dual Dice — 110% Funded on Kickstarter! 100% Done / Completed!!!
Wed, 11/05/2025 - 17:47
#61
I am curious
Fri, 11/07/2025 - 00:38
#63
A bit of a Status Report
I just shipped the German and French Backers TODAY (November 6th)! I have prepared another Batch and hope to ship UK/EU/Australian Backers tomorrow. I have some morning appointments so it looks like afterwards I can mossy on down to the Shipping Location and deliver four (4) more packages.
All that will be left is two (2) Canadian Backers. I chose to tackle the HARDEST Backers first (USA) and then UK/EU next and lastly the easiest ones (Canada).
What's real cool is that everything is moving forwards and as I have my Shipper Hat on ... I'm getting it all done ASAP for everyone.
I'll continue to monitor the shipments for the EU ... And see how many days it takes to ship International.
BTW all packages are Tracked... And less expensive than Canada Post. Plus handling of the Tariffs for the USA was reasonable with my Shipping Service. A real godsend.
Sincerely.
Fri, 11/07/2025 - 17:48
#64
How did things happened, you
How did things happened, you ordered the production of dices. Delivered it at your home and you are splitting and shipping the products yourself?
Fri, 11/07/2025 - 18:21
#65
Here's what went down...
In May 2024 I decided that I wanted to make a Kickstarter for "Dual Dice". But I realized that the previous attempt was "unsuccessful" with a Funding Goal of $4,000 CAD. So what I did is contact a Chinese Manufacturer and we negotiated a MOQ (Minimum Order Quantity) that came to 500 dice.
Once I received the dice, I decided to work on the KS Page some months after getting the stock which was delivered in October 2024. Trump had yet to be elected and we knew nothing about Tariffs only FREE TRADE.
I Launched the Pre-Project preview in June 2025 and the KS on September 2, 2025.
So I waited 3-Months prior to launching the project and collected people who were interested in the dice during those 3-Months.
September 2 to October 2 was the KS Campaign. It was a NAIL BITTER and I spent like $100 USD in Marketing and Ads alone.
So the dice came in one box with two (2) baggies: one with Black Dice and the other with White Dice. 250 of each color.
I had that delivered to my Home. It's a real small box TBH. Like maybe the size of two (2) Quaker Oatmeal Boxes. Not much bigger than that. So that was ok and the MOQ of 500 was ok... Just this happened BEFORE Trump was even elected... So I got the "short-end of the stick" so-to-speak.
I bought Labels from Bureau En Gros (Staples) and Bubble Envelopes...
So for each shipment, I had SKUs (1 or 2), Barcodes and a "Make in China" sticker which was recommended by Customs so they can speed up the process when scanning the item (X-Ray).
Basically I fulfilled each Backer (there were only 23 Packages) myself with the baggies I bought from ULINE.ca (I got like 1,000 of them... So plenty left over for more sales) and I still have remaining Dual Dice too.
So yeah I go into the Shipping Website, enter the information for each Backer (which SKUs, HS Code, Country of Origin, Description and Pricing) and then the system figures out the Tariffs (to the USA) and the price for elsewhere (VAT Tax will be handled by each EU/UK Backer because I gave them each a $5.00 CAD discount on SHIPPING). That $5.00 CAD amount was to offset the price of the VAT Tax. In some case it covers the TAXES 100% in others there can be up to $5.00 CAD more to be paid.
And yeah I've been visiting my Shipping Service each week (well that's not TRUE last week was my Birthday and did NOTHING all week... Hehehe.) Let's just say is that I am a REGULAR visitor several times a week.
With ONLY 23 Backers with Rewards, it's a manageable quantity to Fulfill and Deliver the Packages for the Backers.
So yeah, I've been doing it all myself... Without the NEED for Canada Post!
Hah! Cordially.
Note #1: Two (2) Canadian Backers are left to ship... Will get to this NEXT week. I'm done for this week... Take off my Shipper Hat and just relax and breath a little bit.
But realize that it's ONLY 23 Backers which is MANAGEABLE. If it had been 200 Backers or more... Then I would have relied on a fulfillment company probably in Ontario to handle the shipping of my dice (I know them because we dealt with them for TradeWorlds as Stan was trying to figure out the best way to ship at the lowest price possible)
So 23 is not bad... Reasonable. And it's good money too. Helps put some funds into the Company as the amount of money left-over was starting to dwindle. Now with a bit of a boost... We'll see what happens next.
Fri, 11/07/2025 - 19:03
#66
TBH ... I'm not really a "dreamer"
Yeah I am trying to do "Game Designing" as a Profession. But at the same time I am not a "dreamer". I have very strategic products in different categories to suit the market and I MAKE them HAPPEN.
"Quest Adventure Cards(tm)" (QuestAC) was my first game and I made 10,000 booster packs only to figure out that as my FIRST game ... It was ALL WRONG. Well maybe not the ART. But everything else was NOOB. I learnt a big lesson and that's try to make things as LEAST EXPENSIVE as possible (Manufacturing).
"TradeWorlds" (TW) was in-collaboration with Outer Limit Games LLC. located in Florida/New York and that was a great effort but with Mike's Death ... It sunk the entire project and future plans for TW.
"Dual Dice" (DD) came next and I was excited for this product because it has a unique appeal, is compact and again doing MORE with less money, I made the dice in China my FIRST ORDER from them directly. Stan dealt with China when it came to TW. So this was my first interaction and it was GREAT!
In between there have been several OTHER products like "Prospector" a Splendor Expansion (no rulebook yet), "Battle Botz" (need to create a new prototype), "Crystal Heroes" (I no longer have an artist for future editions) and some other products in different stages.
I am TRYING to bring things to MARKET. Make them READY to SELL!
QuestAC - the Reboot cost me $0.00 CAD to make. Unfortunately it has seen $0.00 CAD sales on "The Game Crafter" and that's probably because TGC has too many games in Inventory. Plus the game is for kids aged 9+... It's not an adult game and is somewhat "boring" for Adults.
That's why I have been recently thinking about a QuestAC - Version 2.0 of that product which would include programming and engine building. The concept is pretty neat and cool... But there is a LOT of work to be done before this game makes it TO MARKET! So that's something that I know and need to figure out as I complete the Shipping and figure out what is NEXT.
But yeah... Always Be Closing (Remember your ABCs)!
That's my MOTTO nowadays. It's clear if you want to live off of this Hobby, you need to be sure you're focusing on MAKING things HAPPEN. And most of the time it means ... some type of SALES.
Anyways I won't bother you with any more details... This is enough and I've got to figure out what needs to be NEXT after "Dual Dice" shipping is completed...
Cheers!
Fri, 11/07/2025 - 21:05
#67
It's a bit of a very HARD road to travel...
Kinda like "The Road Less Travelled"... And furthermore Trump's Tariff Policies are killing my plans to sell to the USA. I guess I am going to have to content myself only selling to the Canadian Market and see if there could be possible opportunities in the UK/EU.
There is NO WAY I'm going to PAY 30% Tariffs to the USA. It almost sucks out ANY and ALMOST ALL the profit from making the sales. WTF am I supposed to do... Do nothing because this President has decided that HE wants a 30% tariff on Chinese goods... Or even worst a 35% tariff on Canadian goods...?!?!
I'm a bit of a Trump supporter... But let me be HONEST: he is treating Canada like CRAP! Tariffing the heck out of Steel, Aluminum and Softwood Lumber. But worst is the 35% to OTHER goods made in Canada. If my DICE were made in Canada the Tariff would be 35% MORE than even China...
So he's willing to TREAT his "enemy" better than a fellow "ally"... That is what disgusts me ... It's purely anal. And he feels like he can talk down to our Prime Minister because he has ZERO regard for Canada. "We don't need Canada as a Trading Partner..." "Who cares if we buy our energy from them..."
He is picking and choosing what he wants to IGNORE as NECESSITIES offered by Canada and basically tells us the USA doesn't NEED us. Fnck that sh!t... If he wants to throw his ALLY in jail and PLAY with his enemy... That's truth telling... That he does however HE feels like it... Nothing rooted in science or reality.
It's whatever day of the month and whatever boxers I want to wear.
Pure and simple.
Sat, 11/08/2025 - 21:01
#68
And BTW the take home amount was...
After taking of the 5% KS Fee and the VISA Processing Fees... We landed up with a bit over $1,500 CAD. Which is GREAT! Although I am not done with the dice, I can see that there might be opportunities to buy the dice ONLINE via our own Webstore. Just because the Online Store Option costs $0.00 to invest, just time to set things up such as shipping fees around the globe (With varying rates taking into effect Tariffs and VAT Taxes).
So I'm very pleased with the KS Campaign and it's going to freaken SNOW in Montreal this coming week (starting Sunday afternoon) and we'll see what happens in the short term... Will it rain enough to rid us of the 12 CM of snow that is expected to fall... This IDK!
And therefore I am happy to announce that we did well. We met our goal and with the extra 10% managed to pay the Fees too.
Let's see if we can keep the momentum going!
Fri, 11/14/2025 - 21:38
#69
Yesterday I shipped the Canadian Orders
And that means that ALL "Areas" have been shipped: USA, EU/UK/AU and lastly Canada. I'm monitoring the International Packages as they have arrived (most) in Europe and will continue from the Netherlands to other European Countries such as Germany, France, Ireland and Denmark.
I will be watching closely the UK and Australian Packages as they are a bit tardy in the process (in-transit with no update information so far...) But I guess they are different than the EU and therefore have their own paths to follow.
The Canadian packages should arrive no later than this coming Monday and I will be checking to ensure that they do arrive on-time. At latest I would estimate that they would get delivered on Tuesday or Wednesday. They've left Montreal and are on their way to Toronto.
I will let you all know the progress and how things are moving forwards NEXT week and I will "relax" over the weekend, even if we are going to have MORE "snow" in my area (Sheesh ... Won't stop falling from the sky...)
Cheers all.
Tue, 11/18/2025 - 21:52
#70
All Canadian Packages have been DELIVERED!
I knew it would take some time for the International Orders (UK/EU/Australia) and so I was in no rush to deliver the Canadian Packages. The packages have all been delivered to our Canadian Backers... While we wait until the International Packages deliver SOON.
I know the word "soon" is relative ... But I'd expect some people to received their pledges no later than Friday 21 November 2025. This is what it looks like for Germany Packages and France might go into next week...
We shall see, I will continue to monitor the situation...
Best!
Thu, 11/27/2025 - 00:41
#71
Only one EU Order has yet to be delivered...
Weird how the Australian package provided very little in terms of UPDATES from the tracking side of matters... But was DELIVERED TODAY! So that means only one (1) order from the EU (Ireland) has yet to be delivered.
It was released from Customs earlier on today and that means that the package is with the Last Mile Carrier.
My estimates is that the package should be delivered the latest on Friday. But the information might only be updated on the Shipping Website on Monday (the next business day). We shall see.
Waiting for this last package to arrive such that I can fully wrap-up the KS and declare that all backers have received their Order/Package.
Cheers.
Fri, 11/28/2025 - 09:13
#72
I never knew this campaign
I never knew this campaign had only 23 backers.
That does make things easier to do manual.
I can imagine having 200 backers and still doing it manual.
If I had all the materials.
10 a day is 20 workdays. 1 month. That is still doable, right?
I don't know how much work you have per backer though. Depends on the materials and arrangements you have to make.
Is it 10 minutes, 1 hour, what did you need for this one per backer?
Fri, 11/28/2025 - 17:28
#73
Well technically we had...
27 Backers but 4 of them were MONETARY only. Means that they contributed to the Funding Goal but did NOT want a REWARD. One of those was a store that I visit every now-and-then that is a FLGS.
Having 23 Backers did make the campaign more DO-ABLE.
It probably takes 15 minutes per Backer once the products were setup in the Shipping Service's Website.
But I had to go buy envelopes, labels, packaging (baggies) which were EXTRA to the cost... What really frustrated me is that the USA was SHIPPED BEFORE Nov 1st when Trump was threatening 100%+ Tariffs on China. He didn't and eventually he LOWERED the rate from 30% to 20%. So I lost 10% on all my shipping... Meh.
The process is not overly complicated.
Kickstarter allows you to DOWNLOAD a Backer's report with all the Backers in order of BACKING. I always kept it like that. Then you need to add columns for address information and then shipping information, etc. etc.
You SORT in your mind how you want to fulfil the pledges/orders. I did three (3) groups for my US Backers, two (2) groups for UK/EU/AU. And lastly one (1) Group for Canada.
What is a bit problematic is DRIVING to the Shipping Service's Offices. Since they only have ONE (1) shipping location in Montreal. So that was a bit of a challenge ... But anyhow, I got it done.
The process was FIRST subdivide the Backers according to their ADDRESS/LOCATION for shipping. Then Add a Shipment in the Shipping Service's website. That takes like maybe 5+ minutes. Then I need to get baggie(s) for their order and get the pre-printed labels. I stick the labels, insert the dice and then add them to a numbered Envelope (Bubble Mailer).
I have the Shipping Service PRINT the SHIPPING LABELS seeing as it is way more FEASIBLE for them (the printer costs $150 CAD ... We'll see in the future). Especially for 23 Labels @ $2 CAD each < $50 CAD... Not worth buying the printer...
And then when I deliver the packages, they print (and charge me) for the labels and then scan the items to begin the shipping process. That takes maybe another 15 to 20 minutes for the batch of packages.
Well the other thing is that the Shipping Service is closed on the Weekends. So you only have BUSINESS DAYS. So 20 Business days = 1 Month if you do 10 at a time. I would do 4 or 5 at a time and had therefore 6 visits to the Shipping Service's Offices.
But yeah that's the process. As a DRY RUN, I learnt a LOT from doing the KS and I was very smart in my approach. KS is very HARD to FUND... There were DOZENS of campaigns which got very LITTLE FUNDING while I met my goal of $1,500 CAD. Like I say, it may seem like a SMALL AMOUNT but TRY IT and see if it's as easy as you believe. Like I said, many campaigns failed with little amounts of funding.
In any event ... This is the process and that's how things were done.
Best.
Fri, 11/28/2025 - 23:32
#74
You are 100% correct!
...I can imagine having 200 backers and still doing it manual. If I had all the materials.
10 a day is 20 workdays. 1 month. That is still doable, right?
Yes I agree fully with your statement. What is doable is exactly that. I don't foresee getting more than that many orders TBH.
When my ONLINE "webstore" goes live, I will have more products to SELL and that's where this all makes sense. I'm not saying I will sell a TON of dice... But I may get some sales and every sale is NOW 100% profit.
I broke even with the KS... Because TODAY (Black Friday), I bought a $150 CAD Printer (for labels). So to make this purchase pay for itself, I would need like 75 customers. I know that's a LOT. But we'll see how it goes.
I've got plenty to work on and I'm trying to FINISH the KS... Only ONE (1) Backer remains in the EU (Ireland). Again with the Last Mile Carrier but has NOT been delivered just YET! I thought by TODAY. Looks like NO. So I guess I need to wait until Monday (Dec 1st).
Cheers.
Sat, 11/29/2025 - 00:07
#75
For the KS I paid...
$46 CAD worthwhile of Lablels: 23 @ $2.00 CAD per Label. But it wasn't Black Friday and this is the LOWEST price point for the Printer in it's history. So 20% off is a GOOD DEAL and doing all research today, it is the ONLY printer with AI that DOES NOT waste labels when doing Calibration.
Other printers have AI too... But they use ONE (1) BLANK label to do their AI calibration (To figure out the SIZE of the Labels AUTOMATICALLY) but then leave that ONE (1) Label just "there" and either you "cut it off" or you are just left with one BLANK label each time you need to calibrate.
The printer that I purchased has AI and AUTO-CALIBRATION ... But after it FIGURES out the Label Size and Type, it REWINDS the labels until it is at the FIRST LABEL and is READY to PRINT.
To me this was an IMPORTANT feature. Even IF I have like 500 Labels, IF I need to calibrate 50x times, that 50 Labels LOST in most printers. Not good. Like we said in the previous message, I bought 200+ Labels because I don't want to be stuck with 300 Labels that go UNUSED.
It was like $7 CAD more for 500 versus 200 ... But I don't want to WASTE with EXTRA inventory. We'll see how things move forwards and I will do a few tests with my existing orders and printing SAMPLE or TRIAL labels and see if they look good. TBD.
Sun, 11/30/2025 - 21:34
#76
I can't believe that the LAST order has NOT been delivered...!
It's very strange that this order cleared customs 4 days ago and still did NOT get delivered by the Last Mile Carrier by this past Friday. So very strange...
It says "At local sorting facility"... Which is fine and dandy but it's been there for 3-Daya already. Which led me to believe that the package would have been delivered by this past Friday.
But no... Not the case. So it SHOULD be delivered no later than Monday or Tuesday of this coming week. If it takes LONGER... I will be worried because this is NOT normal. Usually once the package clears customs it is delivered 2 or 3 days later.
So this specific package is NOT following the normal flow of shipping. Again I find it very "weird".
In any case, I will continue to monitor the shipment and confirm once it is DELIVERED. It's annoying to WAIT on one (1) order when I could have easily wrapped up the campaign last week.
Mph... We shall see...
Mon, 12/01/2025 - 13:23
#77
If it went to the Netherlands
Yeah, it often gets broken, lost, delivered at the wrong address, disappears, etc.
I don't have experience outside of the Netherlands.
Mon, 12/01/2025 - 19:00
#78
Indeed...
It is baffling that it has been SHIPPED to "Ireland" and arrived on the 26 November and here we are the 1 December and it is STILL NOT DELIVERED. WTF???
It's got to be delivered THIS WEEK ... Otherwise it is completely absurd.
The Package was dropped off on the 7 November 2025. And it's 1 December 2026.
Service says from 6 to 11 Working Days: 21 Working Days SO FAR...
Ridiculous.
Tue, 12/02/2025 - 15:03
#79
Ireland?!
What's Ireland doing?! You could WALK all of Ireland in 21 days
Tue, 12/02/2025 - 21:03
#80
Right, EXACTLT!
IDK... It's been at the Local Sorting Center for 5-Days now and still no attempts to DELIVER the package... It has been in Ireland since 20 November 2025. IDK what the heck is going on. IDK because it's honestly my "cheapest" shipment in terms of the COST to Ship and Insure.
But still... Since mailing the package it's been 21-Days. My bad...
It's technically only been in Ireland for 9-Days and it had to clear customs and it says a "Payment was made" so I guess VAT Taxes were charged.
Buy yeah... Exactly! WTF???!!!
I'm waiting to CLOSE the KS since this is the only remaining package which has NOT been delivered.
Heck yeah?! What is going on in Ireland... Are they gambling with the dice at the Post Office! Hehehe... Doing some kind of new Casino Dice Rolling Game!
If it doesn't get delivered by FRIDAY... It's going to be WEIRD for sure.
Fri, 12/05/2025 - 01:04
#81
Well FINALLY the Ireland Backer got his dice order
What's Ireland doing?! You could WALK all of Ireland in 21 days
They tried two (2) consecutive days to deliver. The first day was NOT a success are the Backer was not home to receive his package. And then they tried TODAY and this time the Backer was HOME to get his Dice Reward.
This of course CONCLUDES the "Dual Dice" KS Campaign as EVERYONE has gotten their Dice.
With the BEST of intentions, I completed the Funding portion by the 2 October. It took 2-weeks before the money was transferred to my account. I started shipping the USA (before the November 1st deadline) on the 22 October and then the International Backers in early November wrapping up with Canadian Orders in the middle of November (13 November) and it took the Irish Backer from the November 6 to December 5 ... About 22 Days to deliver the package...
Well at least the campaign is now DONE and I can focus my attention on other projects that I need to "ABC": Always Be Closing.
Waiting for some prototypes to arrive... They are currently on their merry way... I should probably get them by next Friday (12 December)... By my own estimates.
Cheers all!
Our Funding Goal was $1,500 CAD and we got $1,645 CAD. It was a modest success but enough that I was able to "re-coup" my previous investment in making the MOQ of dice. The previous KS only made like ~$500 CAD with a Funding Goal of $4,000 CAD...
I am still focused on SHIPPING... The last few batches in the next few weeks.
All of the USA was shipped a week before Nov 1st... That deadline that was predicting that Trump would put a 100% Tariff on Chinese made products.
And I looked to see how much custom dice in the states cost: $2 to $3 USD EACH!
Ouch... That's a LOT. Not even including shipping costs... Not feasible. I am ATM ignoring the American market and trying to focus on Canada.
So we shall see...