[sleepychu]

It's always really disappointing for me when people see Kickstarting as a way of purchasing the end product. With economies of scale you should really expect prices to come down for retail. What you're getting for the money with a kickstarter campaign is the chance to help someone realise their product, which hopefully you believe in, without the creative inhibitions that come with strings-attached funding.

[gregd]

You must be disappointed a lot then?

I did believe in her product. What I didn't believe in was an utter lack of regard to KS backers, poor communication, misdirections, a publishing contract with Macmillan, a late delivery (while being less than truthful with KS about it).

The author bears some responsibility for changing my mind from believing in her product (what you call helping, "someone realise their product") to simply just wanting the end result of what I paid for at a higher cost than retail.

[sleepychu]

I guess my point was two-fold.

1) The end product will probably be cheaper than the kickstarter backing. (You seem to agree with this, at least in general)

2) People shouldn't see backing a product as a purchase. There's clearly risk involved in any transaction where the obligation of the seller to provide anything, let alone meet your expectation of exactly how the end product will be realised.

It's sucky that you've had such a bad time with this KS though, the real value in backing ought to be the opposite of what you've experienced!