[Arm-netbook] "zombie" campaign

[Luke Kenneth Casson Leighton]

---
crowd-funded eco-conscious hardware: https://www.crowdsupply.com/eoma68


On Fri, Sep 9, 2016 at 6:23 PM, Paul Boddie <paul at boddie.org.uk> wrote:
> On Friday 9. September 2016 18.47.15 Luke Kenneth Casson Leighton wrote:
>>
>>  i'm thinking about it (as in, it's a really good question) that i'm
>> wrestling with.   there's 800 EOMA68-A20 computer cards pledged for,
>> for example, in this first batch.  should i order 200 more, make it
>> 1,000, because the cost of 1,000 will be even lower cost than ordering
>> 800?
>
> Are there any differences in the way the product must be represented (and is
> regulated by laws/contracts) between the fulfilment of pledges/pre-orders and
> with regard to the matter of selling off excess stock?

 quite probably!  certainly, pledges are "gifts" - there's no
warranty, there's no contract of sale, they're *definitely* not
"orders".  that's very very important even in light of the fact that
i'm here on a 90-day visa waiver!  customs declaration *specifically*
asked, "are you bringing in product for the solicitation of orders"
and the *only* reason i was able to say *NO* to that was precisely
because this is a gift-economy-based crowd-funding campaign.

> I follow another crowd-funding campaign where manufacturing may have been done
> at levels to fulfil both pledges and orders from retailers, but then I start
> to wonder about things like warranties (and such): a "pledger" is getting a
> reward, but a customer through a retailer is getting a purchase that is
> presumably regulated rather differently.

 yeahyeah.  the moment that for example chris, my sponsor, starts
*selling* through *his* web site (which he can now do as the contract
period with crowdsupply is over), that *definitely* qualifies as
"sales"

> Maybe excess units are required to cover a small proportion of units that
> might fail for unforeseen reasons, where you might offer to replace units at
> your discretion.

 good point.

> [...]
>
>>  huge number of questions and at some point in the very near future
>> i'll just have to make a decision and go with it.
>
> Maybe another update or two to indicate some kind of deadline might solve this
> dilemma for you.

 ... or i could just wing it :)  no, can't do that - too much involved
(and it would jeapordise / risk the goal of reaching mass-volume
levels).

i'll start to put in costs / quotes as they come in, and then all this
can be assessed properly.

l.