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I've got a story for yall. My friend did a kickstarter campaign to create a "Make-Your-Own Corset" kit. Nevermind that I think the limiting factor for most people is the commercial sewing machines, equipment, and dress forms, not whether you have a pattern and some youtube videos, but whatever I gave her $50. Remarkably she met her goal of $20,000 and got funded. And didn't consider the impacts to her personal finance AT ALL! This is kind of a long story. She set up a facebook donation page to continue to collect money after the kickstarter closed. quote:Unfortunately, Google Checkout has suspended my account. Apparently they have a rule against accepting donations unless you are a non-profit organization, so my donation page is currently down. I'm not sure if I will be able to re-establish my account, as they have yet to respond to my emails. So there were all sorts of complicated rewards she offered in exchange for donating. 4 months after the close of the kickstarter, she updates saying she's running late filling her existing orders. But once she's done she'll for sure start on the rewards before starting the project. quote:I am so excited to finally begin working on the instructional materials, following completion of the first round of gifts (up to $250 contribution)! I suspect it will take 6 months to a year to complete the introductory collection of dvds, patterns, corset kits and printed materials Ok, we expect this to take a year. Cool. She posts a couple more updates about working on the rewards. 4 months later.. quote:I am still working on kickstarter gifts, which are taking much longer than expected for various reasons, personal, creative and health-related... I think I bit off more than I could chew when I created so many gift options that involve complicated artwork. Would any of you be opposed to me consolidating some of the gift options by eliminating a few of the more complicated selections? She sends out a poll asking if she can do the project first and make the gifts later. Everyone says fine just get on with it already. Next update comes a year and two months after the end of the campaign. She moved to another city and her husband broke his foot (of course he did not have health insurance). quote:Sadly, I lost my disability benefits and medical insurance (Medicare) a few months ago because I have money in the bank from your generous kickstarter contributions. The government makes no distinction between business funds set aside for a project, and personal income for immediate liquidation. They just see a balance and think I no longer need assistance, so they kicked me out on my rear end without warning, and told me I owe them $15k to re-pay them for last year's benefits received. I was not expecting that, especially after moving to a new place with higher rent. I am happy I moved, however, because Houston was stifling my creativity. I was miserable there. Hopefully I won't have to repay the benefits, since I was forthcoming about my income, and haven't earned anything (unless you count fabric sales) in over a year. I have appealed the decision, but I haven't heard back and get too stressed thinking about it. One year and nine months in quote:I have been privately struggling with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. I am currently unable to work or function without experiencing a great deal of emotional and physical stress, which manifests in panic attacks, crying, shaking, an inability to concentrate or speak coherently while under pressure (especially in front of a camera). I must take several weeks of Emotional Health Leave from work and external, non-essential communication in order to rein in my panic attacks, sleep disturbances, anxiety, and stress-related symptoms, and to seek professional help for my condition. Ok fair enough health problems. This update goes on for thousand more words (they all do). She gets in a good therapy program and starts healing. quote:I have not been accepting corset orders. My only focus is on my recovery and this kickstarter project. Neglecting my primary corset making business for the duration of this project (with it's many set-backs) has been a financial burden, especially after my Social Security benefits were discontinued as a result of the money I received from the project itself. I feel bad that I have had to turn away so many potential clients, but that's the way it has to be until I have fulfilled my obligation to you. So here we are, 3 years and two months later, and she decides to finish the gifts first and send them out. So I did receive my marionette or whatever, and it's beautiful, but it took 3+ years on $20k (minus taxes and kickstarter fees and disability benefits and medicaid) and she still hasn't started on the actual project.
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Jun 11, 2015 14:41
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Sounds like the Glory to Rome guy who lost his house over a kickstarter he did.
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Jun 11, 2015 14:54
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silvergoose posted:Sounds like the Glory to Rome guy who lost his house over a kickstarter he did. How did he lose his house?
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Jun 11, 2015 15:16
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Every kickstarter that's a one person operation tends to run into this problem of vastly underestimating the amount of work to just do the basic product and adds on all of these massive gifts. Hilariously enough being massively successful does not fix the problem, it makes it even worse.
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Jun 11, 2015 15:55
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The fact that she self destructed her Social Security benefits (including her health insurance!) is priceless, especially because she makes it sound like she's the victim for having a ton of cash sitting in her bank account.
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Jun 11, 2015 16:37
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mastershakeman posted:How did he lose his house? Just a guess, but he probably forgot to render unto Caesar that which was Caesar's.
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Jun 11, 2015 16:40
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mastershakeman posted:How did he lose his house? http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2013/06/18/you-know-all-those-great-stories-from-kickstarter-heres-one-of-the-horror-stories/ Promised too much, feature creep, and just wasn't ready to handle the volume. People really wanted a GtR reskin with good art (holy poo poo the old art is atrocious). ^^^^^ literally if someone plays a legionnaire that steals a resource of a given type, and you don't have it, you say glory to rome, due to that quote.
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Jun 11, 2015 16:40
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Deciding you want to mass produce a board game without first getting production quotes from Chinese companies, or even knowing Chinese vendors, is bad with money.
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Jun 11, 2015 18:46
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Thesaurus posted:The fact that she self destructed her Social Security benefits (including her health insurance!) is priceless, especially because she makes it sound like she's the victim for having a ton of cash sitting in her bank account. It sounds like she lives in the United States, specifically Texas. If she's lost her insurance, that could be very bad and I feel awful for her. That said, speaking as a Houstonian, I have to give major side-eye to anyone who experiences Houston as oppressive and flees to Austin. Houston is bad with weather, but Austin's rent prices are very much bad with money.
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Jun 11, 2015 18:55
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legsarerequired posted:It sounds like she lives in the United States, specifically Texas. If she's lost her insurance, that could be very bad and I feel awful for her. Losing your insurance in the US IS very bad. There is a separate argument about our welfare system being hosed up and possibly actively detrimental to the people who need it, but that's beside the point that your requirements to continue benefits are very clear. None of this should have been a surprise to her and I imagine she is always the victim in every scenario. You're right to feel bad for her because I imagine every waking hour is a struggle for her feeble mind. She didn't report that income, I guarantee it. If you are making a living wage for yourself (no I do not think $20k/year is a living wage) then your disability benefits will (should?) be reduced/eliminated. The whole point of disability benefits are to replace/supplement the income you would earn were you whole, not to pay you to work at home and not report that income. I think that she is a stupid person with bullshit excuses and probably made-up illnesses, but that's not the point. The point is she was earning income that she didn't report and it probably was a genuine surprise to her that she would lose her SSI because she is a loving moron. Then again, maybe I am the moron for not taking advantage of Kickstarter to do jack+poo poo. P.s. if she paid income tax on any of that I would be shocked.
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Jun 11, 2015 19:13
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silvergoose posted:http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2013/06/18/you-know-all-those-great-stories-from-kickstarter-heres-one-of-the-horror-stories/ Reminds me of all those early groupon stories where businesses got clobbered by groupon demand (and probably gained few if any new customers from it) http://www.businessinsider.com/london-baker-makes-102000-cupcakes-groupon-deal-2011-11 It seems like a stupid idea for most businesses. If there's a rotating cast of 40 different nail salons running groupons, when is a chronic groupon shopper going to pay regular price?
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Jun 11, 2015 19:20
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NancyPants posted:P.s. if she paid income tax on any of that I would be shocked. Well it doesn't count as income if she's putting the money towards making stupid things for stupid people online, duh.
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Jun 11, 2015 20:29
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canyoneer posted:It seems like a stupid idea for most businesses. If there's a rotating cast of 40 different nail salons running groupons, when is a chronic groupon shopper going to pay regular price? If your margins are so thin that you can't price a discounted rate that doesn't have you operating at cost/loss, you probably have bigger problems than Groupon.
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Jun 11, 2015 20:46
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NancyPants posted:If your margins are so thin that you can't price a discounted rate that doesn't have you operating at cost/loss, you probably have bigger problems than Groupon. I think the problem is more than inexperienced owners look at it as a loss-leader marketing attempt. They erroneously think the groupon will result in additional sales from other products and services and bring repeat customers. They cut the margins too thin on a gamble.
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Jun 11, 2015 20:55
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BossRighteous posted:I think the problem is more than inexperienced owners look at it as a loss-leader marketing attempt. They erroneously think the groupon will result in additional sales from other products and services and bring repeat customers. They cut the margins too thin on a gamble. I agree with your first point but would suggest they are cutting margins too thin on a gamble in general, not just for a loss leader. Granted there's only so much you can charge for a given service, but lots of small businesses like this are terribly inefficient.
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Jun 11, 2015 21:28
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canyoneer posted:Reminds me of all those early groupon stories where businesses got clobbered by groupon demand (and probably gained few if any new customers from it) I gave up on Groupon in my area because the only things that were on offer were nail salons, yoga, dubious dietary consultations, or other questionable para medicine services.
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Jun 11, 2015 23:07
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canyoneer posted:Reminds me of all those early groupon stories where businesses got clobbered by groupon demand (and probably gained few if any new customers from it) That happened in Toronto, only it was probably a scam from the start: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/toronto/ninety-nine-bucks-for-400-worth-of-organic-meat-seriously/article535056/ I bought into one of the first round ones: it was 40 bucks for $100 worth of meat. I went to cash said voucher in and received, for my sins, something like 8 pounds of meat total: their ground turkey was 10 bucks a pound, their ground beef was 8 a pound, and nothing was priced: you didn't know what you were getting until afterwards. I called the groupon clone to complain, and the store, and was told to come back as they'd make it right, which the dude actually did: he gave me 4 2" thick sirloins to make up for it, which was pretty cool. I didn't buy in to any of the others, because gently caress that. Dude went on to run a deal through something like 5 different spots, and all told had committed to supplying 1.4 million bucks worth of meat (as per the Globe article: I recall it as being higher). Then it became a clusterfuck: you had to call ahead to see if you were allowed to use a voucher that day before going, then they restricted the times when you could use them, and finally they just shut the place and reopened with a different name. Totally hilarious. Before they put the restrictions in he had to have a security guard in the store because people with vouchers were freaking out when told they couldn't use them.
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Jun 11, 2015 23:22
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silvergoose posted:http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2013/06/18/you-know-all-those-great-stories-from-kickstarter-heres-one-of-the-horror-stories/ Closely related: FTC finally comes down on a fraudulent kickstarter http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr-esq/federal-trade-commission-brings-first-801891
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Jun 12, 2015 00:05
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olylifter posted:That happened in Toronto, only it was probably a scam from the start: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/toronto/ninety-nine-bucks-for-400-worth-of-organic-meat-seriously/article535056/ Groupon operations generally bring in only cheap customers that businesses don't really want in the first place... There are endless stories of small businesses running promotions that get out of control and end up costing them tons of money while the coupon promoter pockets half of the take.
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Jun 12, 2015 00:08
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Hence why every groupon now is full of nothing but poo poo that already has super high margins (nail salon and massages etc!)
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Jun 12, 2015 11:33
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NancyPants posted:If your margins are so thin that you can't price a discounted rate that doesn't have you operating at cost/loss, you probably have bigger problems than Groupon. The discounts can be really high. Laser hair removal is generally around 75-80% off. Although to be fair, it can be fairly easy to pay under the sticker price if you ask for bulk discounts without a Groupon.
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Jun 12, 2015 11:37
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Series DD Funding posted:The discounts can be really high. Laser hair removal is generally around 75-80% off. Although to be fair, it can be fairly easy to pay under the sticker price if you ask for bulk discounts without a Groupon. What do you have to look like to get a bulk discount on hair removal?
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Jun 12, 2015 12:25
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evobatman posted:What do you have to look like to get a bulk discount on hair removal? Me.
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Jun 12, 2015 13:45
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I do groupon for things like restaurants and movies. It works out very well. One of our favorite Thai, and an Italian place regularly have 10-15 off groupons, and we'd go to those places anyway. evobatman posted:What do you have to look like to get a bulk discount on hair removal?
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Jun 12, 2015 15:25
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I used to do groupon for haircuts and highlights. I still use groupon for highlights and sure enough, I'm the cheap customer that will go somewhere once and then move on to the next place that has a deal. In fact, now I go to Supercuts for my haircuts since their cuts tend to be cheaper than Groupon.  Good with money but bad with style.
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Jun 12, 2015 15:57
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I love being able to buzz cut my hair every 2 or 3 weeks with a 1-guard. I've saved hundreds of dollars, and I do a better job than most Supercuts/Great Clips type of places.
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Jun 12, 2015 17:08
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Yeah my hairline is pretty week, I've been considering stopping going to Supercuts and just doing my own as well.
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Jun 12, 2015 17:40
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 same.
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Jun 12, 2015 18:37
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I'm a woman who really enjoys having long hair, but otherwise I totally would. Back when my hair was growing out from a buzz cut, I cut my own hair for several months because I made a lot of bad-with-money decisions regarding travel (i.e., paying off just enough money on my credit card to buy a plane ticket to India with that card--somehow this made sense at the time) and even a Supercuts haircut seemed too expensive to me back then. A friend and I were talking about this. She used to spend tons of money on eating out and bars. We compared notes and we realized that always felt too broke for new clothes, for haircuts, etc, but we always managed to scrounge together money for our vices.
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Jun 12, 2015 18:39
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legsarerequired posted:
I trim and layer my own long hair. There's tons of youtube tutorials and it's not hard. I've had friends ask me where I get my hair done too.
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Jun 12, 2015 18:43
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Rurutia posted:I trim and layer my own long hair. There's tons of youtube tutorials and it's not hard. I've had friends ask me where I get my hair done too. I cut my husband's hair because he has three separate cowlicks and hair stylists never know how to work with it. We have those thinning scissors which make a big difference.
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Jun 12, 2015 18:47
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moana posted:Link to a good one? Do you have to get special scissors? I did get a cheap pair of hair scissors. It's smaller than the typical and easier to maneuver through hair. I basically watched all the popular ones and took tips from all of them to fit my hair... Usually they are doing their own hair so if I like the way it looks on them and they have similar hair texture as me I watched it. I'd honestly do that instead of watching the ones I liked because if I remember correctly you are caucasian with fine hair. I'm asian with pretty high protein hair.
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Jun 12, 2015 18:59
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Beauty school and licensing is such a scam. Is a bad haircut enough of a public health risk that the state needs to license barbers and inspect salons? Best part is that my state requires no training or certification on safe food handling for restaurant employees, but if you're thinking about using scissors or clippers it's suddenly a big health issue. I heard a styling complaining that her friends ask her for tips on how they can cut their husbands'/kids' hair. "I didn't spend a year and $16,000 to learn to cut hair to teach people how to do it for free" It's not like her friends would be paying her to cut their hair anyway, but she was treating it like it was a trade secret
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Jun 12, 2015 19:30
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I used to have long hair and as my hairline crept up, my style kept getting shorter and shorter. About three years ago I realized I was paying $17 every three weeks for a 2-guard buzz and just bought my own poo poo. $70 initial investment and I still haven't run out of the starter bottle of oil yet. I like being able to cut my hair every few days on no guard to always look sharp, and it's helped me get better at trimming a beard I didn't know I could grow until I went baldish. Most of my friends visit this place because They Deserve It. The barbers offer golf advice, to anyone that wasn't feeling pretentious enough yet. edit: Worse scam, beauty school or Le Cordon Bleu?
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Jun 12, 2015 19:32
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Bad With Money: Just shave yourself bald, already
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Jun 12, 2015 19:41
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Commuting is bad with money, but everyone already knows that: https://www.yahoo.com/autos/can-you-commute-on-1-a-day-heres-one-way-121294669522.html quote:The average commuter will spend over $50,000 in a decade and 51 minutes every single day just to get from work to home. Put that money into an IRA over the course of 40 years and invest it at 7 percent interest? You would have $1,068,048. A staggering sum that is almost as valuable as spending a year and a half of your life staring through a dirty windshield. This article is about carpooling to save money.
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Jun 12, 2015 19:54
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Appearances matter. Not looking like an ex-con in important for many professions. Lots of jobs how you look can be as important as how you work. Wearing appropriate work attire and being well groomed is 100% worth the small investment.
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Jun 12, 2015 19:54
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n8r posted:Appearances matter. Not looking like an ex-con in important for many professions. Lots of jobs how you look can be as important as how you work. Wearing appropriate work attire and being well groomed is 100% worth the small investment.
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Jun 12, 2015 20:07
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n8r posted:Appearances matter. Not looking like an ex-con in important for many professions. Lots of jobs how you look can be as important as how you work. Wearing appropriate work attire and being well groomed is 100% worth the small investment. haircuts every 3 weeks is pretty over the top, to me that's like showering after every meal
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Jun 12, 2015 20:17
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Cicero posted:Yet another reason being a west coast programmer owns. My husband was a west coast programmer. He never let himself go.  My husband cuts his own hair too and it's definitely a worthwhile investment. You don't have to spend that much money to look good if you know how to take care of yourself. Nowadays with so much resources on the internet, you have no excuse besides just not giving a poo poo (or having no taste I guess). Jeffrey of YOSPOS posted:haircuts every 3 weeks is pretty over the top, to me that's like showering after every meal Depends on the cut. Buzz cutting every 3 weeks yourself is nothing. It takes like 5min.
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Jun 12, 2015 20:23
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