Shipping Update
over 4 years ago
– Tue, Oct 22, 2019 at 03:14:22 AM
Hey all,
We've had some questions about shipping come in, so in this update we're going to go straight down the list and explain the shipping status of The Shared Dream.
US Shipment
The US container has been picked up from the manufacturer, is being loaded on a ship this upcoming week and is estimated to arrive in the US on November 25! Since the product will be landing after the Thanksgiving holiday, fulfillment will be able to start very quickly after the warehouse receives the shipment. Canadian backers may experience a slight delay as offering Canadian-friendly shipping may require an additional movement of the product.
EU Fulfillment
There have been some questions about how fulfilling from the UK would effect the EU due to Brexit. While it seems like no one is able to predict exactly what's going to happen with Brexit, ShipQuest has reiterated their commitment to ensure EU-friendly shipments during this process. We have no reason to believe that anything will change on this front, especially since this shipping project is already underway.
Rest of the World
Asian and Australian backers will be fulfilled by ShipQuest from the UK. In our previous experience, backers were unsatisfied with the shipping experience when we sent product from China, and after exploring other options we feel that shipping from ShipQuest is the best way to take care of these backers, especially since our previous experience shipping worldwide with ShipQuest was a good one.
Locking Addresses
Since we've had quite a few backers contact us about their need to change their address, we've decided to keep addresses unlocked for as long as possible. The current plan is to lock addresses in the first week of November. We will send out another update with a final notice containing the date and time we'll be locking addresses. If you need to change your address, you can still go directly to your BackerKit survey and change your address from there.
We're super excited that we're now closer than ever to getting your games into your hands!
UK Shipping Update
over 4 years ago
– Thu, Oct 17, 2019 at 03:16:19 AM
Hey all.
We have a vessel for the UK shipment confirmed! The boat with our container is scheduled to leave China on October 27th and arrive in Southampton on November 21st.
We should get an update on the US shipment soon--in our last correspondence with our manufacturer, they said that the booking agent is setting up pickup arrangements with our US fulfillment partner, so we're just waiting for them to get back to us with a specific ship.
An additional note on the US shipment--we mentioned previously we were given options between LCL and FCL shipping. We took in a lot of feedback from people who are familiar with the process (and with some backers,) and we decided to go with FCL instead. It was a bit more money, but it's a safer choice when it comes to clearing customs, so we thought the extra expense was worthwhile. This change from LCL to FCL is also what is making the US shipment lag a bit behind the UK, but we think it's better to have a smaller delay now rather than risk a bigger delay later in customs.
Once we have the US shipment date, we'll send out another update.
Freight Update/Final Product Pictures
over 4 years ago
– Mon, Sep 30, 2019 at 11:43:48 PM
Hey all,
There have been some calls for more details about our current shipment timeline and why we don't have a firm date yet. The manufacturer sent us the above images last night so we could see that everything is prepared, and we wanted to pass those photos on to you. Now, let's dive into the specifics:
First, the UK shipment. This is the more straightforward of the shipments to explain the delay on. At the time of our first update we received a finalized freight quote from our manufacturer that beats any of the quotes we received previously. As we prepare for the shipment to move forward, our UK partner mentions to us that they now provide freight services. We provide them with all of the shipping information, and we receive a much better quote from them. We have put the two companies directly into contact with each other. We hoped to get the final shipping date sewed up before Golden Week, but the national holiday delayed us slightly. We should have a final freight date for the UK after our manufacturer returns to the office on October 5th.
The US shipment follows a similar story, except with a couple of extra wrinkles. The real issue from a shipment side is the size of the shipment. Some of the quotes we received felt the best way to handle it was LCL, or Less than Container Load. As it sounds, this means that our product goes onto a container with other products, and then gets unloaded. However, 2 of the other quotes we received claimed that the better way was to ship everything FCL, meaning we would fill up a smaller container with only our product.
While we have experience freighting product from past products, we obviously are not international logistics experts. These two conflicting options threw us for a loop. Ultimately, we decided to go with the shipping method suggested by our manufacturer, since that is how we've done shipments previously.
To add slightly to the confusion, our fulfillment center has 7 different days in October where they would not be able to receive shipments, which meant more back and forth as we tried to schedule a ship.
Just as with the UK shipment, Golden Week has put a temporary hold on the proceedings, but once the manufacturer returns, we should be able to immediately book a specific ship and then provide an exact freight date.
We hope this further information helps put your doubts and worries to rest.
To finish up this update, enjoy some pictures from the final production copies of both The Shared Dream and Covens! The prototype copies were great, and the finals are even better, so we're super excited about how this campaign improved the game and how our manufacturer implemented our needs.
Freight Update
over 4 years ago
– Fri, Sep 13, 2019 at 05:34:38 PM
Hey all! We just wanted to drop in and let you know we're still working on getting the freight set up. Everything is shrink wrapped, on pallets, and our shipping paperwork is in order. It's taking a little bit longer than we hoped to secure shipping--as we've mentioned before, coordinating between multiple companies across 4 countries is naturally a slow process. Once we know the date it'll be on the boat, we will let you know! Thanks again for your patience.
Freight Updates
over 4 years ago
– Tue, Aug 20, 2019 at 02:40:52 AM
Fellow Dreamers!
An update on the progress of The Shared Dream. As we mentioned in the previous update, production is complete, the games are in their cartons and on their pallets, and are awaiting transportation!
If you've backed a lot of Kickstarters, you've probably seen lots of talk of potential board game tariffs. While it looks like we've dodged the specific bullet of paying higher import taxes, it turns out we haven't been entirely unaffected by the trade talks.
As it was explained to us, the anxiety over the potential tariffs has lead to a lot of companies rushing to get product shipped out. Of course, this doesn't apply only to board games, but to pretty much anything that is produced or imported from China (which is a lot of stuff!)
"But what does that have to do with us," you wisely ask. Well, as massive as the international shipping industry is, freight space and availability is still a finite resource. Scheduling international freight is never simple, and when you combine the normal pre-holiday rush with the extra tariff-inspired output, things get even more complex.
Fortunately, we have both the manufacturer and our own logistic partners working to line up product freight, and there is no question of 'if,' but only a question of 'when.'
We just wanted to take the time to explain what's going on and why we are currently waiting for an available freight ship. We're hoping to receive the freight info shortly and get an actual shipping date. Once we have the information, we will let you know.
We know that international shipping logistics isn't the most thrilling topic (although I'm sure there's an awesome board game about it somewhere,) but at this point of the project we're subject to the realities of the world and dealing with other people's schedules.
We thank you for your patience!
