I have finally heard back from BackerKit staff, and the charging/refunding problem is now solved! Meaning I can finally charge cards again!

So for the past few days, I was thinking about how to solve the shipping issue I mentioned a few days ago. And I have finally decided what to do.

Shipping will be 100% paid by backers.
US Backers will be able to choose between tracked and untracked shipping.

• The price is currently shown in the survey

• Choose this if you’re okay with the risk

• No tracking and no insurance

• No replacements if the package is lost or damaged

• Delivery time: approximately 2–6 weeks, depending on the country

• Costs €10 more than untracked shipping

• Includes a tracking number

• Package is insured against loss or damage

• Replacement will be sent if something goes wrong

• Delivery time: approximately 1–4 weeks, depending on the country

I will try to send every package through USPS, so there are no unexpected tariff charges. The alternative would be UPS, which – after speaking with a few of you – I’ve learned is still absolutely terrible when it comes to tariffs.

Tracked shipping is the default option.

If you would like to take the risk and choose untracked shipping, please reply directly to this email.

Deadline to decide: January 14
Cards will be charged: January 15, and I’ll proceed with shipping shortly after.

Thank you for your patience, and I hope your pins will be finally on their way to you soon!
– Moon Duckling

I am sorry for spamming your inboxes right now, I didn't plan this – but for some reason, Stripe has charged everyone in CZK, instead of USD.
In practice – instead of 20 USD, I have received 20 CZK, which is... 21 times less than I should. While this shows correctly in the Pledge Manager and in your receipts/emails, it's unfortunately not the reality in Stripe.

I honestly have no idea WHY this happened, because project on its own was in EUR, Pledge Manager was in USD (and couldn't be changed) and now this... I am starting to think that because the campaign was during Halloween, it got cursed by someone or something.

I am currently refunding every payment, and already contacted BackerKit support to solve this issue.

Thank you for your patience, and when I've heard any news, I will let you know.
– Moon Duckling

I have some good news, and some bad news... and if you thought that after the charge problem it couldn't get worse, oh boy, it did. I would really like to hear your opinion on this matter, so please, consider voicing it in the comments. 

BackerKit staff is currently working on the problem of syncing refunds in Stripe with BackerKit! From what I have been told yesterday, it should take up to 5 business days. The surveys has been also set to EUR (finally!), which also means the prices are currently way off... I will be lowering the prices back to the original EUR prices (not USD ones) once the syncing is done, and will be also resolving any problems that might have arisen due to the refunding. 
This, however, also brings me to the bad news...

Remember some of the problems I had around US packages? Well, that did seem to get resolved during November/December! BUT...
Now the problem is that my local post office stopped accepting ANY small parcels to every country, that would include tracking. This means I can't send any packages this way anymore.
I honestly had no idea this was about to happen. When I sent my last parcel last week of December, there were no news about this decision. Even now, you can find it only in one obscure .pdf, somewhere hidden on the site, only really reachable via Google search.
This, however, means I have to use private shipping company to send the rewards, which in many cases doubles the cost of the package.

I have been contemplating for the past three days what to do. That's where I would like to hear your opinion, because that's currently what matters the most:

a) ship parcels untracked (because yes, this is still a possibility, for some reason??)

b) I would raise the shipping price to the current cost (so international shipping would be now 18 EUR for small packages, for the big ones 24 EUR || for Europe, small packages - 11 EUR, big packages - 21 EUR)

c) we would meet halfway – I would raise the prices only by ~50 %, and the rest I would pay myself (so international shipping would be now 12 EUR for small packages, for big ones 18 EUR || for Europe, small packages - 9 EUR, big packages - 16 EUR)

I want to highlight that there is no right or wrong answer. Please, answer based on your own feelings, don't hesitate to voice any ideas/opinions you have :) 

I hope you are doing well and great in the New Year, and enjoyed the Christmas holidays! During the break, I finally received enamel pins!
With this in mind, I will be charging the credit cards on 4th January, and I should start shipping out pledges with enamel pins and stickersheets ONLY shortly after! 
I am currently still waiting for socks, tote bags and beanies to be made and arrive (manufacturing had to be postponed because of the Christmas break), but I am still pretty positive they should be ready before the 10th February, when I wanted to ship everything! :) 

In the past two months, I've tried sending out packages to the US declared as gifts. As we are speaking, all of them arrived safely to the US without any problems, so I will be proceeding with this solution. They should take anywhere between 3 - 4 weeks to arrive, depending on the customs. 
For backers with priority shipping, there are no changes and packages will be sent via UPS – I am expecting they will arrive way sooner than the rest of the orders.

Now onto the main thing – the enamel pins!

Hello ducklings!

I'm here today with a short update, that's more of a warning/plead – there is only 1 week left to fill in your surveys! Please, do make sure you actually finish them, so I can send you your rewards during February 💜

For everyone who already done so, THANK YOU SO MUCH! I can't wait to fullfill all of your pledges and see your reactions to them! 🫶

Thank you for supporting me, 
and as always
Stay ducking awesome 💜