[incision]

>People have been using Kickstarter as a pre-order site which I think is not ideal in many cases.

Kickstarter backs this perception.

"In just 24 hours, 20,000 people bought an Ouya console — a product they had never heard of before yesterday." - Yancey Strickler - Cofounder/Head of Communications at Kickstarter [0]

0: http://www.kickstarter.com/blog/ouyas-big-day

[forrestthewoods]

Kickstarter is trying very hard to NOT back that perception. They have and continue to make changes to make it clear that Kickstarter is not a pre-order site.

"Kickstarter is Not a Store" - http://www.kickstarter.com/blog/kickstarter-is-not-a-store

[makomk]

Kickstarter tries very hard to backpedal on that perception when it's about to blow up in their face. They made that "Kickstarter is Not a Store" blog post and the associated policy change after the press showed interest in the seedy side of Kickstarter; I forget what the exact catalyst was because it was some time ago.

[incision]

>I forget what the exact catalyst was because it was some time ago.

As I recall, the main Kickstarter hoopla going on at that time was Lifx [0]. Also, September 2012 was the original delivery date for Pebble [1].

0: http://blogs.reuters.com/felix-salmon/2012/09/18/kickstarter...

1: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/597507018/pebble-e-paper...

[aclements18]

Pretty sure it was the Pebble Watch. Their largest, most publicized project was called in to question after repeated delays.

I think the subsequent changes (i.e. no renderings) made make the platform substantially better. But they still need to get away from that "presale" perception that the general public has.

The first few projects I backed were friends or just because I thought they were cool ideas that would be awesome in real life. Getting something in return was really, in its purest form, a 'perk'.

[Udo]

There is no denying failing to make that distinction is good for Kickstarter's business, but I assert it's bad for crowdfunding in general.