New Kickstarter Hardware and Product Design Guidelines

Thinking about launching a hardware or product design on crowd-funding platform Kickstarter? You’ll want to be sure you’ve read through the new guidelines, that now prohibit simulations or renderings and prohibit offering multiple quantities of product in a reward.

Kickstarter appears to be cracking down on projects that fund but are never fulfilled with the new rules, requiring a working prototype to be available and show in the project. They go on to state that Kickstarter is not a store, thus no longer allowing multiple quantities of product to be included in a reward.

The new rules for Hardware and Product Design projects:

• Product simulations are prohibited. Projects cannot simulate events to demonstrate what a product might do in the future. Products can only be shown performing actions that they’re able to perform in their current state of development.
• Product renderings are prohibited. Product images must be photos of the prototype as it currently exists.
• Offering multiple quantities of a reward is prohibited. Hardware and Product Design projects can only offer rewards in single quantities or a sensible set (some items only make sense as a pair or as a kit of several items, for instance). The development of new products can be especially complex for creators and offering multiple quantities feels premature, and can imply that products are shrink-wrapped and ready to ship.

This is a big deal for anyone thinking of using Kickstarter to fund their new product. Will they affect you?