Hey, remember the CST-01, the Kickstarter-funded ultra-thin watch cuff that failed as a business proposition and as a real-world invention? The watch was funded in February 2013, but assembled and working watches never materialized. After announcing plans to liquidate and then going silent for 11 months, the project posted one more update for its backers: insolvency documents that the company filed with the state of Illinois. [More]
kickstarter is not a store
Coolest Offers Opportunity For Backers To Pay $97 And Jump The Line, Another Revolt Ensues
By 4.15.16
Back in 2014, the Coolest, a cooler with built-in speakers and a blender, crushed the record for the most-funded Kickstarter project along with lots of ice for frozen margaritas. The problem, though, was that the cooler’s creator charged early backers $165 for something that would eventually retail for $400, and running out of cash made some production snags even worse. Now they have a new proposal for backers: pay an extra $97 to jump the line and get their coolers next. [More]
Failed Kickstarter Project Ships Cards 3 Years Late After State Of Washington Sues
By 8.24.15
You may remember that last month, we reported that the first legal action against a crowdfunded project ended with the state of Washington imposing $54,851 in restitution, civil penalties, and the attorney general’s costs and fees on the company, based on the number of backers who lived in Washington state at the time of the Kickstarter campaign. Now there’s a complication: the company is actually starting to ship stuff. [More]
Central Standard Timing Re-Emerges, Plans To Liquidate Or Give Everything Away
By 6.15.15
You may remember Central Standard Timing, the company that raised more than $1 million on Kickstarter to produce neat e-ink watches that look like slap bracelets with digital displays. The team behind the product said that they had simply run out of money to produce the watches, and all they have left are piles of components, technical specifications for assembling the watches, and an amazing plan that didn’t quite work out. [More]
FTC Announces First-Ever Settlement Over A Failed Crowdfunded Project
By 6.11.15
Today is an important date in the histories of both consumer protection and crowdfunding: For the first time, the Federal Trade Commission took legal action against someone who used Kickstarter to fund a project that they didn’t produce. That’s the good news. The bad news is that since the man behind the scheme has no money to distribute to backers, the settlement doesn’t actually do anything for people who backed The Doom That Came To Atlantic City. [More]
