Cactus Cat Plushie - Your fluffy, prickly magical friend

Explanation of Shipping Costs & a small token
over 6 years ago – Fri, Sep 01, 2017 at 07:58:34 PM

Hello Backers:

I know many of you are experiencing some sticker shock at the cost of shipping. We were surprised too, but as you'll read below, these are the actual shipping costs. Since these items are being custom manufactured, then being hand-customized with spines and having the clippings added, they have to be personally boxed by us, by hand, and shipped to you. We cannot ship them directly from the factory to a fulfillment service. These are more of a boutique item, with each cat and clipping being a little different.

We priced UPS, FedEx and USPS shipping. We physically took each item to the USPS and weighed them, and sized them for packaging. The cat is not small, and needs a medium size Priority Rate box (or a 12" x 9" x 5" box), which will also hold the clipping kit; that size box will also hold a mason jar/lid/straw and the collar and flask. For standard cactus cats, the most economical way to ship is First Class Mail, which costs $12.21 to ship cross-country. We rounded this to $13 for the shipping charges.

It is cheaper to use Priority Mail medium size box vs. First Class Mail when the weight goes above 2 lbs, which happens when you add the flask or mason jar. Priority Mail medium box is $13.60, which we rounded to the $14 you see. Adding a second cat or a second mason jar requires moving to the large flat rate box, which was $18.85, which was rounded to the $19 you see.

For some international destinations, such as Canada, using UPS can sometimes be less expensive than USPS (depending on the season, and we will be shipping during the Holiday rush). Not knowing the actual addresses of the backers means that it's very difficult to predict costs, as it is less expensive to ship to Paris than it is to a small town in Romania or New Zealand. Therefore we standardized on the International Flat Rate Box for all international shipping; one price, no matter the address.

We could have folded some or all of the shipping costs into the reward tiers for the cats themselves, which would have increased the price of the rewards (e.g. the cat would have gone to $38). We elected not to do that because Kickstarter takes 5% of your shipping charges and because averaging shipping in this way did not work well on our Compendium of Creatures Kickstarter, where we lost an incredible amount of money on international shipping charges. We were trying to plan better.

We're a small company that doesn't have large warehouses or a shipping department. These plushies are custom and each one will be touched by our hands as we prepare them for you. As the Cryptid Cutie collection grows, we are actively looking for ways to reduce shipping costs and we hope to have the ability to use a fulfillment service in the future. This will save on shipping costs, but also means we can't offer as much customization of the product.

To help with the shipping sticker shock, we'll add a couple special treats for you and your cat to the box. It's a small token of our appreciation for helping us get this collection off the ground.

We hope this helps explain how the costs were derived. We're genuinely sorry that the prices are so high, and we wish there was a better shipping deal, but these are the actual shipping costs to get the product to you.

May the cats' spines be soft, and the catsap be smooth,

Maury and Ben

BackerKit Surveys Coming Soon!
over 6 years ago – Mon, Aug 28, 2017 at 01:50:02 PM

Soon, you’ll receive an email from us with a special link to your BackerKit survey. It’s important to respond to your survey as quickly as you can since we need this information to fulfill your rewards.  

You don’t need to create a BackerKit account to fill out your survey. When you receive the email with the survey, click the survey link to respond. Answer the questions about your reward preferences, provide shipping information, and purchase add-on items if you like. You don’t have access to this survey link yet, but it will be available soon via email! 

 After you respond to your survey, you can go back later and change your responses at any time before we close the surveys and get our final counts. 

If you need to review your information or pledge status, you can return to your survey by clicking the link in your survey email or requesting your survey link under "Lost your survey?" on our BackerKit project page at https://cactus-cat-plushie.backerkit.com. 

If you used your Facebook credentials to log in to your Kickstarter account, the BackerKit survey is sent to the email address you use for your Facebook account. If you have another email address that you prefer to use, please contact support at https://cactus-cat-plushie.backerkit.com/faq.   

~The Cactus Cat Team

Customized spines on each cactus cat! No 2 kittehs alike!
almost 7 years ago – Mon, Jul 17, 2017 at 01:18:49 AM

Did you know that although the cactus cats will be mass produced with their scruffy green fur and three-part cactus tail, that each one in this Kickstarter will be lovingly customized to add signature spines and prickles, giving it the cactus look and feel?

Here's a picture of roughly how the prickles will look, on a dyed store-bought plush:

Don't worry, the spines are made of soft elastic rope and won't affect your cat's snuggly ability. 

 And here's a comment from a backer who babysat the Prickles prototype for a week and took them to fancy places in New Jersey. This cat's body shape and weight makes them great snugglers. Hear it from Cheyenne herself: 

"I got the absolutely lovely opportunity to have one of these for a week before sending it back to its furrever home. While at first I thought it'd be cool to show off, this cat ended up being a very close friend. During the 7-hour train ride, they were my snuggle buddy, my shoulder familiar, my fluff! It may seem a bit strange, but when you're unable to have the love of an actual pet, I found this quite comforting. When I extended Prickles to others to interact with, a number of them had similar reactions. Friends who were unable to have actual cats near them, found Prickles soothing due to the weight, size, and natural urge to just pet it. So, when I jokingly say that for a week, Prickles acted as my hypoallergenic comfort companion...I'm not really so much joking as sheepishly being honest of my experience." -- Cheyenne

There's just over two days left on the campaign, and we are sooooo close to funding! With your support, we can do it! And soon, you'll have cactus kittehs of your own.

The spines will be different on each kitty -- no two alike. Here's a close-up of how the elastic spines are added, each one by hand: 

 <3

Maury

We did it -- wait, well, it's close!
almost 7 years ago – Mon, Jul 17, 2017 at 01:17:10 AM

Hello, awesome backers!

This afternoon we crossed the funding goal! And there was much rejoicing! Thank you so much for your support and belief in this project!

Then, as I was taking these pictures of Cactus Cat Prototype battling Cthulhu 

and admiring themselves in the NWM House Rivalry Board Game 

some pledges were canceled or adjusted and we dipped below the funding goal again.

So it's touch-and-go and we're not out of the woods yet, and [insert another appropriate cliché or trope here] but we still have 48 hours to go! Thus, I think we should take the moment to pat ourselves on our (not-so-spiny) backs and raise a glass of catsap (fresh or fermented), to cuddling with our very own Cactus Cats come December.

Much hugs and happiness to you!

Maury

Thank you, thank you, thank you!
almost 7 years ago – Mon, Jul 17, 2017 at 01:16:23 AM

We want to send out a special thanks to all 266 of you who helped bring the Cactus Cat to life and start the Magimundi Mates collection of plushies! It was really touch-and-go for a while there, and yet you all believed and spread the word and we found the fans! 

Thanks especially to Kristin Casey, Cassandra Khaw, and Rob Balder and Erfworld for boosting the signal to their fans at the end of the campaign. It really made a difference! Check out Cass's novellas: Rubert Wong: Cannibal Chef, Rupert Wong and the Ends of the Earth, Food of the Gods, and Hammers on Bone. They are all fantastic! Of course, the Erfworld Gobwin is part of the Compendium of Creatures (along with the Cactus Cat) and we are very honored to partner with such an awesome and hilarious property as Erfworld! Kristin is a perennial player in Magischola, and one of our counselors for Magischola Prep, and has an awesome YouTube channel! Show them some love!

We will be sending the surveys out quickly for this one, so that we can get the cats back in time for December Holidays! So stay tuned and please fill out your survey right away when you get it! 

For now, we're enjoyed fresh catsap cocktails (1 part lemonade, 1 part lemon/lime soda, 1 part aloe vera juice, green pearlescent powder, shake, pour over muddled mint leaves, garnish with a mint leaf). Kick back and enjoy yourself and we'll be in touch soon! <3