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...how is paying for shipping "extortion?" How are they supposed to get a tax write off for it?
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I think the top reddit comments pointing on that Ninja Division is the one who has caused you problems, not Paizo, are correct.
You're blaming Paizo for the situation, when they were primarily just responsible for licensing the designs.
It sounds like, in order to get the stuff you paid for all you need to do is pay for shipping which based off statements I've seen wasn't covered in the initial kickstarter backing.
Pay the shipping and get your stuff my dude. Maybe I'm missing something, but I don't see the problem.
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Tax write offs don't work that way.
Being angry is one thing, but the conversation needs to bound by reality.
He's not wrong that wasting money on extra expenses with no compensating revenue would reduce their taxes or create a tax loss carryover if it pushes them into a loss. So would doubling their wage bill or giving away 90% discounts for six months.
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1) Yeah, this is a Ninja Division issue. Their products - especially Kickstarters - have been notoriously customer unfriendly.
2) Paizo's eagerness to have a Starfinder minis line out led them to be less discriminating than they probably should have been in picking a licensee. There was ample evidence that Ninja Division was overly optimistic in their ability to deliver. But since they were the only ones who said "yes, we can do it" Paizo didn't really look too deeply into how unrealistic they were being. That's a hit on Paizo's rep.
3) I've had the shipping problem with several orders for work lately. I get a quote with an estimated shipping cost of $0.00 and then find large shipping costs added to my credit card charge. What I have found is that (essentially) if a company charges a different amount than they quoted you it isn't illegal as long as they still deliver the product. You can't even put it into credit card dispute. One particularly scuzzy company not only refused to refund the shipping, they would only take it back with a 10% restock fee. Plus, of course, I would have to pay to ship it back to them.
Why did I post that rant in #3? Because I voted with my (company's) wallet - I have never bought from that company again.
Yeah, I'll agree maybe Paizo should have been more discerning in selecting a partner but there's no guarantee that at the time the decision was made Paizo would have reasonably be aware of the issues Ninja Division had or would have.
What I can say is that I have run into (in my capacity with designing, purchasing, and executing of work projects) that even with the best of intentions some vendors fail. And you might not have a lot of options to avoid a vendor that you don't have experience with.
In this case, it sounds like Paizo hadn't partnered with ND before and didn't have options to use anyone else because no else had agreed to the necessary bits. Probably a big factor was timeline, which ND ultimately failed on and if the other companies that were potentially involved had been given 5 years they might have had more attractive offers.
Sometimes this is how life is.
The best recommendation I can give is to look at Kickstarter projects with much more suspicion and to treat them as something that is likely to fail. If you're not comfortable "burning" the money you're using for the kickstart, probably just wait until the thing comes out for retail purchase and get it then.
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Yeah, I'll agree maybe Paizo should have been more discerning in selecting a partner but there's no guarantee that at the time the decision was made Paizo would have reasonably be aware of the issues Ninja Division had or would have.
As soon as the project was announced, the community pointed out that Ninja Division already had a pretty bad track record of taking money and not producing and then starting up another kick starter anyway. The problem was KNOWN, it apparently wasn't believed. Paizo vouching for ND in spite of the massive warning signs being waved by fans is a large part of what got people mad at paizo for this.
Then that is a deserved criticism.
Paizo should have been more selective and not partnered with Ninja Division. But then it's likely the minis would have never been made. Or it would have taken even longer to get a partner to produce them.
But it sounds like Paizo has taken steps to rectify the situation by getting Archon to fulfill the kickstarter (not sure who paid for what exactly) and Archon shipped a bunch of minis to the US to Paizo so Paizo could fulfill the kickstarter orders. I'm pretty sure Paizo didn't have to do that at all. All the people who did the kickstarter could have been told "that sucks, kick rocks".
And no the complaint is that it's going to cost an additional $20 to get shipped their $500 worth of product?
Be grateful you're going to get your products that you spent money on and be more wary of kickstarters in the future.
Paizo should have been more selective and not partnered with Ninja Division. But then it's likely the minis would have never been made. Or it would have taken even longer to get a partner to produce them.
14,000,605 futures... and this was the fastest they could be made? Starfinder is..about 6 years in? Almost halfway through the shelf life of PF1.
I can't see how the kickstarter itself could have gone worse. ND ran it to the tune of "take the money and run" and the project had to start over with little to no funding.
From there paizo handled it the best way they could without losing money, but at that point I think they were starting from the worst possible outcome. (baring the raccoons taking over)
What the OP is getting is a different product* 4..5? years late and has to pay more for it than they bargained. Extortion is more than a little hyperbole but the annoyance is pretty justified.
*the original minis were supposed to be resin. These are plastic. As a "give me lead poisoning or give me death" grognard I'm not sure how big the difference is.
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What I heard secondhand (heard from someone who heard from someone at Paizo who was directly involved in the process) was that Paizo first reached out to WizKids, who had been doing a great job in the Pathfinder Battles line, and asked them to make the Starfinder minis. Paizo's goal was to have the minis available at the same time as the Starfinder CRB (August 2017).
WizKids had a well-developed, regular pipeline and said "we don't have room in our production schedule. We can maybe work out something for 2018." Which, of course, would be well after the initial excitement of the Starfinder launch.
Ninja Division said "yeah, we can do it!" And as they were the only ones who claimed to be able to do it by August 2017, Paizo decided a risky vendor was better than none. Not sure that was the right choice, the amount of goodwill lost has been huge.
Plus - as I have heard many, many times - a small company looking to get a small batch manufactured in China really needs to have a good fixer who has good relationships with the factory owners and understands the country or they are at the mercy of the factory owner finding a better option at the last minute.