Major distribution update (I couldn't wait)
I was going to wait until the weekend to get onto this, but well, you know, I guess I'm just "on one" today, heh...
A lot's been happening, and I thought it was about time for a brain dump.
Anyway, this is a long post, so here's the key points.
If you have the time though, I suggest you read the whole thing.
The development of a distribution plan...
It started off so small. Someone would burn a couple of discs to send to someone who didn't have a burner - and maybe print out a cover to go with it. So we started to organize people to match up donors with recipients. Over time, the number of people that wanted DVD sets grew. So, I added a way for people to note how many DVDs they were prepared to burn through our web site, and for people who wanted to get a set to note their interest.
As we got closer to release, several issues with this approach became apparent. From experience, we knew that about 1/3 of people who offer to help out, don't deliver. Taking this into account would mean that the organic distribution approach would become a major clusterfuck if left as it was. Added to that was the fact that the numbers just didn't add up. We have offers to burn 3,000 DVDs and about 260 BluRay, and we needed 9,000 DVDs and 600 BluRay to satisfy demand. A bit of a problem, hmmm? And now it's even bigger - our total goal now is for 15,000 discs!
Well, it became clear that we should try and find a company willing to work with us to help us make up the shortfall. We found one, and started getting quotes for pressed discs that would then be used to make up the numbers. The quote for the pressed discs was about the same as for printed pressed discs, so it seemed a natural step to get some artwork added. Yeah, that would be cool. Oh wait, now we have a problem - if some people get pressed discs, while others get burned discs, there'll be hell to pay.
I spent a week or so thinking about that problem. In that time, the number of people ordering sets shot up. I did a pile of calculations, and came up with a master plan. Why not press all the paid sets, and the people requesting free sets would be in a crap shoot and would either get pressed, burned or a mixture of the two. Sounds like a plan I can live with, that keeps the spirit of the burned discs alive, satisfies demand and pisses off as few people as possible (heheh, yeah right - these are NIN fans I'm dealing with here!)
As the number of sets increased, the price per set started to drop. So I started thinking about what to do with the remaining money. Well, I ran through a few ideas, and discussed it in our group. Since the only person with any feedback was Shreena. I basically ran with it. I hope you enjoy this :)
Each paid set now consists of:
- 3 professionally pressed discs, each with single color artwork ("The Gift" BD/DVD, Las Vegas DVD and Bonus DVD)
- a professionally printed wrap inside a 3 DVD case
- a 16 page, professionally printed and stitched booklet
- a 7" x 5" full color postcard
- a 7" x 2.25" 'bumper' sticker
5,000 poly lined DVD mailers are already on their way - as are return address labels. The postcards arrived Friday (all 162lb of them!), 5,000 cases, wraps and booklets went to print today, along with 4,000 Bonus DVDs. 4,000 Vegas DVDs will be started soon, shortly followed by 2,000 Blu Ray and 2,000 DVD "gift" discs. 3,000 other discs are being burned by people and being mailed to me. It really is quite insane! :-)
I really wanted to surprise everyone with this, but I figured I should explain it all out so that you realize exactly what we've been up to, where we're at, and how PayPal is basically making this process frustrating as hell...
The PayPal situation...
The day after I opened the account, I was asked to supply a huge pile of documentation. Irritating, but understandable. Then they wanted to run a credit check. I jumped through all of their hoops. Then, on Tuesday 2nd March, the account was frozen again. They wanted proof I'd actually mailed the items people had paid for. Well, no, I haven't - they don't exist yet. So, I explained that to the PayPal rep over the phone. Later that day, I got this email:
Hello Clive Holloway FBO thisoneisonus.org,
Pre-sale items are items advertised for sale before the seller has possession of the items or before they have been shipped. These generally consist of items that are sold prior to the item's availability to the general public, or that are sold by the seller with the intention of using the payment to go out and purchase the item being sold.
PayPal does permit pre-sales on a limited basis, as long as the seller guarantees and reasonably expects that the item will be shipped within 20 days from the date of purchase, and that he clearly informs the buyer that the item is a pre-sale item.
Because you have not or will not ship the item within the 20 day timeframe, your limitation cannot be reviewed until the items have been shipped to your buyers.
Sincerely, (sic)
Tyler
Merchant Risk Mitigation Specialist
PayPal, an eBay Comapny
Yes, I added the sic, but otherwise, word for word. I called back, and the rep gave me Tyler's number. I called it 4 times - it never even rings - just goes dead. So, I called back again and the rep said they would email Tyler and he would call me on my cell on Wednesday afternoon. I haven't heard from him.
So, as it stands, we have $10,836.12 in the PayPal account - approximately 2/3 of the final shipping costs. Worst case scenario, I put the shipping on my credit card and then claim it back when they finally unfreeze the money, but I'd like to avoid that if I can - hence the requests for money orders and PayPal refunds. Refunding is the only way I can get money out of the account at the moment.
I've learned a lot about PayPal from this, and will never be using it for future NIN projects - or any other for that matter. The lack of accountability they have because they are not a bank, and the lack of flexibility in their approach makes this a nightmare for any future, community based projects.
So please, I know it's a small pain, but in comparison to the shit I've had to deal with over the last few weeks, taking the time to send me a check / money order / cash payment along with your username here and PayPal linked email address is just a small thing to ask. Those of you outside of the US might want to wait until I've gathered the country reps together (see below).
The support I've had from everyone over this has been great. Once this is all over I'm aiming to do something to bring attention to how PayPal treats community groups, and would love it if you could include a small drawing or piece of art when you send your order expressing your love for paypal - or email me a photo of one, or create a piece digitally. Pissing off NIN fans is not something taken lightly... although this protest will try to be light hearted when implemented :) More details on that much, much later :)
Clarifications: if you do not want to get a money order or send a check, YOUR ORDER WILL STILL GET PROCESSED. I am ONLY refunding orders where people are sending checks/money orders to help with the cash flow, that's all. This is a request, NOT a requirement. Also, if you are sending a check and want a PP refund, please wait for me to refund you - DON'T initiate a transaction dispute - that just complicates things further. Thanks!
Help us with ordering
Sending money orders internationally can be expensive. To make this cheaper, we want assign a person in each country to help. If you volunteer, your tasks would be to::
- Collect money from people in your country - up to you whether you accept PayPal or not, heh
- Collate all the orders and send the money to me (actual details TBD)
- I then either mail the sets to the recipients, or to you and you mail them locally - decided on a country by country basis depending on local custom tariffs etc
So far I have contacts set up for Canada (French and English), Denmark, Japan and the UK. If you would like to volunteer for this role in your country, please let me know. I will supply you with a spreadsheet to populate to help us keep track of everything, so the ability to use OpenOffice is a requirement :)
