How to Get Those Awesome Kickstarter & Crowd-Funded Products to SA
Crowd-funding sites like IndieGogo and Kickstarter have been active for a while, and the longer they exist, the more established they become as consumer platforms that can deliver incredibly innovative products and project ideas we wouldn’t have otherwise seen. They give any individual with a good idea the ability to pitch that idea to the public and can financially back those products if they want to buy them.
Some of the most creative solutions to problems come from these crowd-funding platforms, but so do cutting-edge products one would expect from massive brands. The great thing about the crowd-funding sites is the ability for consumers to become participants in the process from conceptual design of a product all the way to actually holding it in their hands.
From the therapeutic Fidget Cube to the Pebble smartwatch, there are have been some incredible Kickstarter projects, but a common problem is that many of them don’t ship to South Africa; and are relegated to being only available in the US or UK. But, Postbox Courier, which is a proudly South African service (and FREE to sign-up with), allows you to get your own postal address in the US, UK, or China, so that, if the product you want is unavailable to ship to SA, you can send your overseas orders there – then Postbox Courier will make sure to get your goodies right to your door in the good ole Republic. Suddenly, anything on Kickstarter is now available to you!
So what are some of the most backed campaigns in the crowd-funding platform’s portfolio? Let’s have a look at a few of the biggest and best:
Baubax Travel Jacket – $9.2m
What’s it like to wear a jacket that’s basically a backpack? That’s got to be one of the questions the designers of the Baubax travel jacket had on their minds. Besides having nine utility pockets for specific items like sunglasses, a small tablet, and identity documents, it has some other nifty tricks up its sleeves. Like hidden gloves. Yep, there are fingerless gloves that are right at the cuffs. The coolest part for perennial jet-setters, though, is that it has a sleeve for an inflatable neck pillow as part of the collar design.
3Doodler
The viral product attracted over 26,000 backers to its campaign, ultimately raising $2.3 million. The pen extrudes heated plastic, which cools quickly to form 3D sculptures. You can even download stencils that will help you create more intricate designs.
Amabrush
Amabrush pitched itself as the first automatic toothbrush, which claimed to clean teeth in an incredible 10 seconds. The unusual design featured a bristled mouthpiece, which vibrates to clean your teeth quickly and effectively. Though its goal was set at $50,000, Amabrush successfully raised over $3 million and is one of the most popular hygiene products to have ever been funded on Kickstarter.
When they’re established, it’s easier to get hold of Kickstarter products here in South Africa, but if you want to be right at the cutting edge of their projects the shipping can often be a hassle. If you don’t want their shipping options to get in the way of you enjoying innovative goodies then check out Postbox Courier – they consolidate overseas orders and get them right to your door.
Planning some Black Friday retail therapy or have your eye on something online you’re itching to use that birthday money on? Postbox Courier will sort you out and get your stuff to you safe and sound! You can even order from multiple places simultaneously and Postbox Courier will consolidate all your goodies into a single package.
What’s even better, they’ve even got a handy calculator on their homepage to let you estimate what your shipping costs will be.
So, before you decide to spontaneously pull the trigger on something you need, have a look at some of the online retailers and see if Postbox Courier can’t help you save a bit on your purchase!
