Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Your campaign just closed. The confetti emoji is still on your screen. And now there's a new question in the creator Discord that wasn't really a question two years ago: do I use Kickstarter's own pledge manager, or do I still pay for something like PledgeBox?
Back in the day this was easy. Kickstarter gave you a pretty basic survey, so most creators with anything more than one reward reached for a third-party tool. That changed in May 2025, when Kickstarter opened its built-in pledge manager to all creators. Since then it's picked up a long list of updates. So the old advice is, well, kind of out of date.
We'll walk through what each tool does, where they actually differ, and which kind of campaign fits which. Then we'll get to the part most comparisons skip: what happens after you pick one, when all that backer data has to turn into boxes on a shelf and parcels on a truck.
Quick note before we start. We're a fulfillment company, not a pledge manager vendor. We don't sell either tool, so we don't have a horse in this race. We just see the exports from both.
What a Pledge Manager Does, and Why There Are Two Options Now
A pledge manager is the tool you use after the campaign ends. It sends each backer a survey, collects the stuff you need to ship, and turns a pledge into a real order.
From pledge to order: the step most first-time creators miss
Here's the thing. A pledge on Kickstarter isn't a purchase yet. It's a promise of money in exchange for a reward tier. When the campaign ends you know who backed and roughly what tier they picked. You usually don't know their final address, which color they want, whether they'd like a second copy, or what shipping to their country really costs today.
It's a bit like a restaurant taking a deposit for a party of eight. Great, the table's booked. But you still have to ask about the menu, the allergies and who's actually showing up. The pledge manager is that second conversation.
Native vs third-party: where each one plugs into your campaign
The native option lives inside Kickstarter. Backers log in with the account they already used, check out, and their order sits right next to their pledge. Nothing to connect.
A third-party pledge manager like PledgeBox sits outside. You link your campaign, it pulls in your backer list and reward data, and backers get an email that takes them to a separate survey page. More setup, more control. Other well-known names in this space are BackerKit, Gamefound and CrowdOx, and we'll touch on them where it matters.
Kickstarter's Built-In Pledge Manager in 2026
If your last look at Kickstarter's survey was a few years ago, honestly, look again. The current tool is a full pledge manager, not just an address form. Here's what Kickstarter's own help center describes today.
Surveys, upgrades, add-ons and late pledges
You decide which rewards and add-ons show up, set prices and quantity limits, and you can even create items that only exist inside the pledge manager. Backers can upgrade their tier or add extras during checkout.
A couple of rules worth knowing. Physical add-ons are only offered to backers on physical reward tiers. And money pledged with no reward can't be applied to an upgrade.
Backers can also edit their survey answers after checkout, and you choose when that editing window closes. Newer updates let backers add add-ons on their own after ordering too, again with you controlling the cut-off.
Late pledges work through a toggle. Turn it on and your project page points new visitors into the pledge manager, so people who missed the campaign can still back it.
Shipping charges and the built-in tax engine (US, Canada, UK, EU)
If you didn't charge shipping during the campaign, you set final shipping costs before backers check out. You can pick weight-based or flat-rate shipping per reward. If you did charge shipping at pledge time, that amount stays as it is. Backers only pay extra shipping if they upgrade, add something, or change country.
Tax is where the native tool got a lot more serious. According to the Kickstarter help center guide to its pledge manager, a Kickstarter subsidiary called Project Partners, LLC calculates, collects and remits applicable sales and use tax. Tax collection covers backers in the US, Canada, the UK and the EU. Your job is to classify each reward item and enter its market value.
For the UK and EU, you either enter a UK VAT ID or an EU OSS number, or you opt out. Opt out, and handling VAT and import charges is on you.
Segment address locks, ShipStation sync and the Tariff Manager
The pledge manager has to stay open for at least three weeks before you can close it. When you close it, backers who haven't checked out get an email and 48 hours to finish.
After that you can lock addresses. And you don't have to lock everyone at once. You can build a segment in the backer report and schedule a lock just for that group, which is handy if you're shipping in waves. Backers in that segment get a 48-hour heads-up first.
Kickstarter also added a ShipStation integration that sends finished orders across and returns tracking numbers, plus support for more than one tracking number per order. A Shopify app was in beta at the time of writing. There's also a Tariff Manager, which lets you add a clear, separate charge if US import costs change between the campaign and fulfillment. After 2025, a lot of creators were glad that one showed up.
Where it still feels tight
It's still Kickstarter's checkout, Kickstarter's look and Kickstarter's flow. You can't really brand it. It only works for Kickstarter projects, so if you also ran on Indiegogo you'll be juggling two systems. Variant handling is fine for a shirt in three sizes but gets clunky when one reward has lots of combinations.
And on cost: Kickstarter says there's no upfront fee to use it, but its usual fees are taken from money collected through it. Check Kickstarter's current fee page for the exact numbers, because they can change.
PledgeBox: What a Third-Party Pledge Manager Adds
PledgeBox has been around for years and works with both Kickstarter and Indiegogo campaigns. It feels more like a small online store than a survey.
Branded surveys, SKU variants and bundles
You get a branded survey page, variant combinations with their own inventory counts, product bundles with photos, gift items and backer coupons. You can ask marketing questions, let backers upload files, and send the survey more than once. If you sell a miniature with four paint options and two base sizes, this kind of SKU control makes life easier. Kind of a lot easier.
Kickstarter and Indiegogo under one roof
If you ran on Kickstarter and then moved to Indiegogo InDemand, or you're planning to, keeping everyone in one pledge manager is a real plus. One export. One set of SKUs. One place to answer "where's my order".
Pre-order store after the survey closes
Once the survey's done, PledgeBox can keep a pre-order store running for people who show up late. It also syncs with Shopify and some shipping software, which helps if you plan to turn the campaign into an ongoing shop.
How PledgeBox pricing works
Going by PledgeBox's pricing page at the time of writing, it doesn't take a cut of the money Kickstarter or Indiegogo already collected, and there's no setup fee. Surveys that collect no extra money are free. It charges a percentage on extra payments collected inside the survey, such as add-ons, upgrades, shipping and tax, and a higher percentage on orders through its pre-order store. Stripe or PayPal processing fees are separate. Pricing plans can differ by project, so read the current terms before you commit.
PledgeBox vs Kickstarter Pledge Manager, Side by Side
Here's the short version. Both columns describe what each company publishes today. Features move fast in this space, so treat this as a starting point and double-check anything your campaign depends on.
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What you're comparing
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Kickstarter Pledge Manager
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PledgeBox
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|---|---|---|
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Upfront cost
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No upfront fee
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No setup fee
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How you pay
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Kickstarter's usual fees on money collected through it
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0% on original campaign funds; a percentage on extra money collected in surveys and pre-orders
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Platforms
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Kickstarter only
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Kickstarter and Indiegogo
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Backer experience
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Same Kickstarter login and checkout
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Separate branded survey page
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Variants and SKUs
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Basic options per item
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Variant combinations with inventory counts
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Add-ons and upgrades
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Yes, including items exclusive to the pledge manager
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Yes, plus bundles, gifts and coupons
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Shipping charges
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Weight-based or flat-rate per reward
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Collected in the survey
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Sales tax and VAT
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Kickstarter's subsidiary collects and remits in the US, Canada, UK and EU
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Tax collection with invoices; confirm who files and remits
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Late pledges
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Toggle on the project page
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Import late backers and run a pre-order store
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Payments
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Through Kickstarter checkout
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Stripe and PayPal
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Shipping software
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ShipStation sync; Shopify app in beta
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Shipping software and Shopify integrations
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Address locks
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By segment, with 48 hours' notice
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Locked survey records
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A few popular claims, checked against Kickstarter's help center
While researching this, we noticed some comparison posts still describe the old Kickstarter survey. So here are a few things that have changed.
- "You can't charge shipping in Kickstarter's survey." You can now. If shipping wasn't charged at pledge, you set it before checkout.
- "You have to collect US sales tax yourself." Not with the native tool. Kickstarter's subsidiary collects and remits it, as long as you complete the item setup.
- "Backers can't change anything after the survey." They can edit answers and add add-ons until the cut-off you set.
- "No late pledges." There's a late pledge toggle. What Kickstarter doesn't describe is importing an outside list of backers, which is where a tool like PledgeBox still helps.
None of this makes one tool "better". It just means the gap is smaller than it used to be, and the decision is more about your campaign than about missing features.
Which One Fits Your Campaign?
Okay, here's how we'd think about it if we were in your shoes.
Simple tiers, one or two SKUs
If you have a handful of tiers, maybe one or two add-ons, and you're only on Kickstarter, the native tool is probably enough. Backers don't need a new login, and the tax handling alone saves a ton of headache. Fewer moving parts, fewer emails.
Lots of variants, Indiegogo too, or a long pre-order tail
If your rewards come in lots of combinations, you ran on more than one platform, or you want a branded store that keeps selling for months, a third-party tool like PledgeBox starts to make sense. You pay for that flexibility, so do the math on your own add-on revenue.
Tabletop games with big add-on menus
Board games are their own animal. Expansions, deluxe editions, sleeves, metal coins, playmats. Add-on menus get long. Plenty of tabletop creators use the native tool now, but you'll also see BackerKit and Gamefound a lot in this space. Compare at least two before you pick, and ask other creators in your genre what their backers liked.
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Project type
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What makes it tricky
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Usually leans toward
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|---|---|---|
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Board games
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Expansions, deluxe editions, lots of add-ons, heavy boxes
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Native for simple games; third-party for big add-on menus
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Consumer electronics
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Color variants, batteries, warranty questions
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Either; check battery shipping rules early
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Books and comics
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Signed copies, bundles, media mail options in the US
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Native is often enough
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Miniatures and collectibles
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Many SKUs, fragile pieces, limited editions
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Third-party for SKU control
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Apparel
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Sizes and colors on every item
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Third-party if variant combinations get large
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Whichever You Choose, Fulfillment Is Where It Gets Real
Here's a thing people don't say enough. Your backers probably won't ever look at your pledge manager settings. They'll see the box. Whether it showed up, whether the right things were inside, and whether it cost them a surprise import fee at the door.
The pledge manager's real job is to hand your fulfillment partner a clean list. If the export is messy, every problem moves downstream into the warehouse, and fixing it there is slower and more expensive. That's true for crowdfunding fulfillment no matter which tool you picked.
What your warehouse needs in the export file
Before you even build your survey, ask your fulfillment partner for their import template. Then make sure your pledge manager collects every field on it. Here's what most warehouses will ask for.
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Field
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Why it matters
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|---|---|
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SKU and quantity per item
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So pickers grab the right things, including add-ons
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Full name and address
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Obvious, but also check for missing apartment numbers
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Phone number
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Many carriers need it, especially for international delivery
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Email
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For tracking notifications
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Product description in plain words
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Customs needs to know what's in the box
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Declared value per item
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Used for customs and duties
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HS code
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Helps customs classify the goods
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Shipping method or tier
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So the order goes out on the right service
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A tip from the warehouse floor: map every reward tier to SKUs before the export, not after. "Deluxe Pledge" means nothing to a picker. "1x CORE-GAME, 1x EXP-01, 1x SLEEVES-100" does.
Native path vs PledgeBox path: sync, CSV and tracking numbers
With the native tool you can sync finished orders to ShipStation, or export from the backer report. With PledgeBox you can use its shipping software integrations or export a CSV. Either way, test with a small batch first, maybe 20 orders, and check them line by line. One wrong column can wipe out phone numbers on hundreds of orders, and nobody notices until the carrier starts rejecting labels.
Then make sure tracking numbers flow back to backers. Kickstarter can take tracking back through ShipStation, and PledgeBox has shipping notifications. If your warehouse sends tracking emails itself, decide which system talks to backers so they don't get three different emails.
Shipping in waves without losing late pledges
Most campaigns don't ship everyone on day one. You might send the US first, then Europe, then the rest. Or ship the main batch and hold late pledges for a second wave.
Kickstarter's segment address locks fit this nicely. Lock a segment, export it, ship it, move on. With a third-party tool you'll do something similar with locked records. Just keep a simple log of which wave each backer is in. It sounds boring, and it is, but it's the thing that stops double shipments.
Kitting multi-SKU rewards and add-ons
When one reward is really five items, someone has to put those five items in one box, in the right order, with the right padding. That's kitting. Getting it set up before the stock arrives saves a lot of re-work. If you use a kitting and assembly service, a simple item list per tier and a photo of how the finished box should look make setup much easier.
Shipping rewards from China straight to backers
A lot of crowdfunded products are made in China, so shipping straight from there skips a long, costly trip through another warehouse first. SendFromChina is a China-based 3PL that does exactly this part: we receive your finished rewards, check them, store them, pack them by tier and ship them to backers around the world. You can bulk-upload orders exported from your pledge manager, edit orders online, and backers get tracking emails.
A few honest details. Shipping cost depends on route, weight, size, product type and carrier, so there's no single price. You can get a rough idea with our shipping cost calculator. As a reference only, delivery to the US often takes around 7 to 12 business days, but that varies with route, customs and season and isn't a promise.
On duties, you can choose DDP, where duties are built into the shipping cost so backers don't pay at the door. That works for declared values up to $150 and doesn't cover Alaska, Puerto Rico, Hawaii or Guam. With DDU, the backer pays any VAT or import charges on arrival, so tell them up front. If you want the full picture, we've put together a longer guide to Kickstarter fulfillment from China.
Mistakes to Avoid When Switching or Mixing Tools
None of these are rare. Most are easy to dodge once you know about them.
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Mistake
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What happens
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What to do instead
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|---|---|---|
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Switching tools after sending the first survey
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Backers get two surveys and answer neither properly
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Pick your pledge manager before the campaign ends
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Not mapping tiers to SKUs
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Pickers guess what "Deluxe" means
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Build a tier-to-SKU table before you export
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Charging shipping before you have a quote
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You eat the difference, or ask backers for more later
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Get a fulfillment quote first, then set shipping
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Ignoring tax settings
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Backers get import charges they didn't expect
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Decide DDP or DDU and explain it on the project page
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Exporting everyone at once while late pledges keep coming
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Missing or duplicate orders
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Ship in waves and keep a wave log
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Skipping a test batch
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One bad column breaks hundreds of labels
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Test 20 orders end to end first
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Not collecting phone numbers
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Carriers reject or delay international parcels
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Make phone a required field
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Conclusion
Kickstarter's own pledge manager has grown up. For simple, Kickstarter-only campaigns it covers the basics well, and its tax handling is a real plus. PledgeBox earns its keep when you need deeper variant control, more than one platform, a branded store or a long pre-order tail.
Either way, the tool is the middle step, not the finish line. Plan your export fields, your SKU map and your shipping waves early, and the hand-off to your warehouse goes a lot smoother. If you'd like help with that last part, take a look at our Kickstarter fulfillment service and ask us for a quote.
FAQs
Is Kickstarter's pledge manager free to use?
There's no upfront fee. Kickstarter takes its usual fees from money collected through the pledge manager, such as add-ons, upgrades and shipping. Check Kickstarter's current fee page for exact rates.
How much does PledgeBox cost?
According to its pricing page, there's no setup fee and no cut of your original campaign funds. It charges a percentage on extra money collected in surveys and a higher rate on pre-order store sales, plus Stripe or PayPal fees. Check the current page before you sign up.
Can I use PledgeBox with a Kickstarter campaign?
Yes. You connect your Kickstarter project, PledgeBox imports your backers and rewards, and backers fill out a PledgeBox survey instead of the native checkout.
Can I switch from Kickstarter's pledge manager to PledgeBox after my campaign ends?
It's possible before you've sent surveys, but switching once backers have started checking out gets messy. Decide before you launch the pledge manager so backers only deal with one system.
Does Kickstarter's pledge manager collect sales tax and VAT?
Yes, for backers in the US, Canada, the UK and the EU. A Kickstarter subsidiary handles sales and use tax. For UK and EU VAT you add your VAT details or opt out and handle it yourself.
Can I charge shipping in Kickstarter's pledge manager?
Yes. If you didn't charge shipping during the campaign, you set weight-based or flat-rate shipping before backers check out.
Does PledgeBox work with Indiegogo?
Yes. PledgeBox supports both Kickstarter and Indiegogo campaigns, which is handy if you've run on both.
Which pledge manager works well for board games?
It depends on your add-on menu. Simple games often do fine with Kickstarter's native tool. Games with lots of expansions and add-ons often look at BackerKit, Gamefound or PledgeBox. Compare fees and features against your own reward list.
How long should a pledge manager stay open?
Kickstarter requires at least three weeks before you can close it. Many creators keep it open a bit longer and send reminders, then lock addresses close to ship date.
How do I send pledge manager data to my fulfillment warehouse?
Get your warehouse's import template, collect every field it needs in your survey, then export after you lock addresses. Use a direct sync if both sides support it, and run a small test batch first.
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