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Kickstarter Reviews
ConsumerAffairs has collected 92 reviews and 360 ratings.
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Reviewed Sept. 28, 2023
Kickstarter exists to link scammers with victims. Its does not practice any form of financial governance over "makers" pitching outlandish ideas with unrealistic timelines. They basically act like mafia bosses, taking their cut of the money then shielding the maker from being held accountable. The worst are any creator that is based out of any country other than the US or EU. To the point that many fake their location to trick more victims into giving them money. There is no honesty from this company.
Reviewed Sept. 1, 2023
I backed up Funland by Urban Toy Lab and it was a scam. Product delayed (probably for backers not be able to contest the transaction with their visa) then there was no more answers and updates by the creator. Kickstarter doesn't take any responsibility, just their share of the money. Don't risk any project on this platform. It's not worth it. Wait to see the project in a store if it successful. The small difference is nothing compare to the risk of losing a lot of money by backing a fake project.
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Reviewed July 6, 2023
I have used Kickstarter since 2012 back when a friend of mine used to to raise funds for a restaurant opening. This should be the only function of the site - financial support for people YOU KNOW. Do you need a website for that? Of course not. I backed a company called Xenxo back in 2018 and after many ** production emails from the creator and "shipping soon!" messages, the company turned out to be fraudulent. Most frustrating part is that despite the hundreds (maybe closer to 1000+) of complaints about Xenxo directly to Kickstarter, Kickstarter continues to host Xenxo on their platform.
Reviewed May 26, 2023
I backed a project from Watermelon games called Paprium which was supposed to be a fund raise for Watermelon games to port Paprium to the consoles. I ordered 3 collectors editions and a specialized joystick. Fast forward a year later past the deadline which was at December 2022 I still never received it. I tried disputing the charge, but Kickstarter "validated" it while pretending they are a "legitimate" business. Worse is that a tweet was made on December 25th which I never noticed at the time, but a backer on Facebook saved it prior to the tweet being deleted. It showed that the developers were admitting to their backers that the project was a scam. This site should be seized by the FBI.

Reviewed March 3, 2023
Bought something from Kickstarter and it was actually a scam. Kickstarter didn’t do anything about it. After many complaints they still did nothing about it... So at the end thousands of people got scam… the biggest parts of the scam is that Kickstarter made money on all of us. Such a bad company.
Reviewed Jan. 6, 2023
Used credit card to back this project (China). Kickstarter charged my credit card. The “creator” raised over $900,000. Project was never fulfilled. Contacting person involved is fruitless. Kickstarter basically claims they are absolved any wrongdoing. Refuse to refund my money. Using the cover of their “terms” as an excuse. These people should be investigated and put out of business.
Reviewed Sept. 10, 2022
Kickstarter is a scam!! I funded a project which turned out to be a giant scam. Kickstarter will not refund the money, they give the money to these scammers without even caring about the project backers. They could easily change their policy and release funds as the project owners prove that they are legit. Kickstarter would rather just take their percentage and run with zero care about the backers who are getting scammed.
Reviewed Aug. 9, 2022
I funded a project that turned out to be a million dollar scam and Kickstarter won’t do anything or answer for us as users, on the contrary. The project was ERGOPLAX: The 15-in-1 Smart Ergonomic Sit and Stand Desk. Look for the comments on the project here: (**) I tried many times to ask for Kickstarter to do something or declare the project a scam but they never did. Some of the backers got to ask for a chargeback on their credit cards with their bank but Kickstarter disputed the payment saying that “this is the risk of supporting projects on their site.”
There's no chance of success in a lawsuit. We all gave money to the campaign and ticked the box acknowledging we might not get a reward, so we don't have a contract with anybody. That's why we backers need KickStarter to be more proactive in vetting Creators and monitoring campaigns, and feeding back directly to backers when appropriate, which they don’t do. Please beware if you are going to fund something on Kickstarter, because if it turns out to be a scam, then there’s nothing you’ll be able to do to get your money back.
Reviewed June 1, 2022
This company doesn’t support the backers and customer because they are greed with money. They mostly support illegal projects and are criminals themselves due to many fraud projects. Hope this company gets sued.
Reviewed May 13, 2022
Think twice before you get in to bed with Kickstarter. When you back a project via Kickstarter you at NOT a customer to Kickstarter. Kickstarter will never treat you as a customer nor will they help you in any way when you get ripped off. Kickstarter will always have their customers interest first, and you are just Kickstarters product. I have reported these project scammers to Kickstarter so many times and Kickstarter just don´t care. They have already got their money from the project scammers.
This is my reply from Kickstarter from my last project I ever will back Kickstarter. “When a creator launches a project on Kickstarter, they’re inviting people to form a contract with them. Anyone who backs a project is accepting that creator’s offer, and forming that contract. Kickstarter is not a part of this contract, it is a direct legal agreement between a creator and their backers. More information about this can be found in our Terms of Use.” Never trust a scammer and never trust anyone who just want to make money from you.
Kickstarter author review by Ashley Eneriz
Founded in 2009, Kickstarter is based in Brooklyn, New York. It has helped campaign owners raise more than $7.3 billion to fund over 592,000 projects. It's a haven for creative projects across diverse categories such as dance, food, music and games, as well as a variety of subcategories. In 2015, Kickstarter became a benefit corporation, which means it is obligated to consider the impact of its decisions on society and not just shareholders.
All or nothing: The "all or nothing" philosophy at Kickstarter encourages donations and minimizes donor risks. Nearly half of Kickstarter projects get funded.
Fees: Kickstarter takes 5 percent of each donation if a project meets its goal, with a third-party processor collecting between 3 to 5 percent. Kickstarter does not charge fees when a campaign fails to meet its goal.
Name recognition: Backers who want to fund creative projects tend to gravitate to Kickstarter, and campaign owners benefit from that built-in audience. Entrepreneurs, and increasingly some businesses, can also use Kickstarter to fund a wide variety of creative projects.
Project visibility: Through curation, Kickstarter chooses to bring attention to those projects that are getting backer and media attention through the use of staff picks and weekly newsletters.

Ashley is an expert finance writer who worked for 12 years with top names in the industry, including Discover, The Hartford, ScotiaBank, Chime and Synchrony. She joined ConsumerAffairs in 2022, and specializes in coverage of banking, credit repair and debt management. Her writing has also been featured in Forbes, Time, Yahoo, MSN and Reader’s Digest. In her personal life, she enjoys homeschooling her three daughters and writing children's books.
Kickstarter Company Information
- Company Name:
- Kickstarter
- Year Founded:
- 2009
- Address:
- 58 Kent Street
- City:
- Brooklyn
- State/Province:
- NY
- Postal Code:
- 11222
- Country:
- United States
- Website:
- www.kickstarter.com
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