How to Dispute Kickstarter Fees and Get Your Money Back

Kickstarter is one of the largest crowdfunding platforms for creative people, helping them go around traditional gatekeepers like agents, dealers, distributors, fiscal sponsors, record labels, and publishers. If you’re intrigued, you might be wondering about to get your project off the ground.

Since 2009, it has helped get more than 200,000 creative projects off the ground, raising more than $6M with over 20 million backers. It's entirely driven by crowdfunding, so donations from the general public fuel these dynamic new ideas. Kickstarter accomplishes all these by charging a small percentage of all the funds raised. Kickstarter fees help to pay for the costs of running the site, including advertisement and employee payment.

If you want to waive your Kickstarter fees, this article explains how to do it and how DoNotPay can help.

How Kickstarter Works

Creators and backers drive Kickstarter. Creators present creative project ideas, and backers fund those projects. Creators set up a page to display their project's details and prototypes using text, video, and photos.

Project creators set a funding goal and a deadline. The creators also create reward levels for backers who pledge specific amounts. The more a backer pledges, the bigger the reward. When enough backers have funded the project, the creator can develop and produce their vision. Backers may have to wait months to see the finished product depending on the project's complexity.

Kickstarter's All-or-Nothing Rule

A creator can collect their funds only if they reach their funding goal by the deadline. If they don't reach the goal in time, no money changes hands. Kickstarter put this rule in place to minimize risk by not releasing funds unless a project meets its goal. This ensures that creators have enough money to do what they promised, and they're not expected to complete a project without the funds necessary to do so. This also assures backers that they're only funding creative ideas set to succeed. If a project can't generate enough funds, creators can always try again later.

If a Kickstarter Project Fails, Can You Still Get Your Money Back?

Kickstarter doesn't issue any refunds if the project fails. In most cases, you'll only get money back if the creators have any left and decide to distribute it back to them. But this is rarely the case and when a project crashes and burns, so does the money. However, you can dispute the charge with your credit or debit card company or contact the project creator. Another way of getting money back is to file a lawsuit and hope that you'll get something back.

Kickstarter Fees Explained

In return for the privilege of hosting your project on their site, you must reimburse Kickstarter with a small percentage of your project's earnings. Here are those fees:

Kickstarter’s flat fee:	5% of the total amount of money that is funded on the site
Stripe, Kickstarter's payment processor’s fee:	About 3% to 5%, plus $0.20 per transaction

If you choose to offer a smaller pledge option (all those t-shirts and sticker packs), Kickstarter has a different "micro pledge" fee. Pledges under $10 have a larger cut of 5% but a lowered fee of $0.05 per pledge. The amounts vary slightly for campaigns based outside of the US. Because of Kickstarter's all-or-nothing rule, there are no fees if funding isn't successful.

If you're helping to fund a Kickstarter campaign and would like to cancel your pledge, you'll have to do so before the project's funding deadline. During the last 24 hours of the campaign, you can't decrease or cancel your pledge without contacting customer support first.

DoNotPay Can Help You Waive Kickstarter Fees

Here's how you can use DoNotPay to appeal your Kickstarter fees:

Search "appeal fees" on DoNotPay, choose the Fight and Waive Fees product, and select the type of fee you want to appeal.
Select the merchant you want to appeal fees for and enter the details of your transaction, including an associated account if you have one.
Submit your case! DoNotPay will generate the best argument for your case and make sure your fee waiver request gets sent to the merchant for processing.

Why Use DoNotPay to Waive Kickstarter Fees?

Trying to waive your on your own can be tedious and time-consuming. You have to spend hours with Kickstarter support and make follow-up calls to ensure your fees are waived. DoNotPay simplifies this process, helping you waive your Kickstarter fees with the click of a button.

DoNotPay can also help you resolve any issue you may have with Kickstarter:

If you want to change your Kickstarter pledge, DoNotPay can help!
Sue the project creator on your behalf: If you want to get your money back from the creator or you received an unsatisfactory reward, you can sue the project creator with DoNotPay's help!
Get a Kickstarter refund: DoNotPay can also help you get a refund from Kickstarter.
Get a chargeback instantly: if you want to dispute charges that appear on your credit card, DoNotPay can help you get a chargeback.

What Else Can DoNotPay Do?

Besides helping you waive your Kickstarter fees, DoNotPay can also help you waive:

DoNotPay Works Across All Industries

Whenever you need help solving other everyday problems that take time and involve a lot of bureaucracy, DoNotPay is there to help make the process simpler and more efficient. We can help you:

Why struggle to have your Kickstarter fees waived on your own when DoNotPay can help you do it instantly? Join us to get started, and let us help you waive your Kickstarter fees!