Originally Posted by
slickginger
It's just a vote of confidence in the form of dollars. And get this, either way Kickstarter takes their cut... which is on the order of 8-10% of the total money raised. That's right... for a campaign like this Kickstarter makes somewhere around $226k as soon as the campaign finishes. And then there are chargebacks and all sorts of crap that happens where backers find a way not to pay. And THEN you have to pay taxes, which can take around 40% OF THE REMAINING AFTER FEES.
Interesting.
I had no idea Kickstarter took that much money right from the start. I also did not factor taxes into the equation since Kickstarter never mentions them at all. Is it true Kickstarter withholds 40% or more from every dollar raised? Does Helix have to withhold this amount? Holy Cow!
Under Slickginger's assumption, the company receives far less money than what you actually paid. Therefore, a $1,500.00 hundred dollar donation will cost the company about $720 dollars between fees and taxes! In other words, to break even, Helix has to produce your bike in under $800 dollars!