Hi everyone,

I felt I was overdue for another proper check-in post to let you all know how the remaining fulfillment is going. I apologize in advance for the word dump, there's a lot I wanted to cover so I'm going to jump right into it - there will be a shorter TL;DR section at the end so scroll down if you'd just like the cliffnotes!

FULFILLMENT UPDATE

In a previous update post, I offered 5 additional pin sets free of charge as a compensatory addition to pledges unshipped up to that point. Each person up to the time of writing this update who has commented with their pin selections has been accounted for - even if I didn't reply or like the comment. I created a comprehensive list of all remaining orders including everybody's requested pin selections

If you missed the post, or forgot to select extra freebies but would still like to: please do so on that same update post (just so everything is in one place) and I will add your selections to your order! You can also make a note if you specifically prefer to receive your order as-is. For those who prefer a refund instead I made note of this as well and will work to get your pledge refunded as soon as I am able.

To briefly restate my last post, my most recent college term was a lot more difficult and time consuming than expected, the short story is that I got really sick for a while right at the beginning and had to fight to catch up again for the whole rest of the term. Basically I was in survival mode and didn't get to work on fulfillment as much as I hoped to causing significant delays. I apologize for making you guys wait even longer - it was terrible timing. However since I'm on spring break right now, I've resumed the process of making my way down this list, adding freebie items to each applicable order, labeling and shipping orders. If for any reason your order is especially time sensitive (i.e. you are moving, traveling, etc) please let me know and I will prioritize your order. My goal is to ship out all remaining orders by the end of spring. If it looks like it fulfillment might continue into summer then I will let you guys know but I'm also going to make a better effort to balance remaining fulfillment and school work, once school resumes again for me on April 6th.

ITEM QUALITY CLARIFICATION

I wanted to address a concern that somebody voiced in a private message, in case others had the same concern as well. Each pledge that is locked has had its items set aside already, and freebie pins are being quality checked as well - in other words, please don't think that any promised campaign rewards were sold (either online or at conventions) - leaving behind lower quality pins for the remaining pledges. This is not the case.

It was wrong of me to sell any more tiny warriors before adressing a large chunk of unfulfilled backerkit rewards. I apologize for this. All shop orders have been PAUSED for now until ALL backerkit rewards are shipped. Having said that, I'd like to clarify that those sold were extra stock intended specifically to sell.

The short version of what I'm saying is that 1. You don't have to worry about me running out of your promised pins and 2. I will only be giving backers quality checked pins and won't intentionally give B grades unless otherwise specified. Any unexpected B grades are simply a result of human error as I quality check each pin by eye myself and it isn't impossible that a small error would slip by unnoticed - but I do try my best to catch these even if it's just a scratch. Please know I really do care that the items you recieve are good quality!

PLAN GOING FORWARD

I wanted to detail how I plan to restructure the way I handle my business from this point onward. I've put a lot of thought into how I can best improve and please don't hesitate to let me know if you have any more suggestions than what I've listed here.

FUTURE CAMPAIGNS

I have some product ideas for the future that I think you guys would love, and I would like to run another campaign like Tiny Warriors in the future - but not without substantial changes in how I operate the entire thing from start to finish. It's important to me that in any future endeavors you all can trust that you will recieve your items as smoothly as possible and without unnecessary delays. I've learned that there is only so much I can handle by myself and the best way for me to ensure a smoother delivery is to stop trying to run every single thing myself while juggling external responsibilities. Steps I will be taking:
- In general, more thorough logistics planning pre-launch with informed second opinions. I want to handle this entire aspect of a project with a lot more scrutiny and care. The next step in the list contributes toward this as well as it will help me get a more accurate idea of the budget for shipping costs, materials, import fees - so there are fewer curveballs.
- Third party fulfillment: I will utilize a third party service for any and all future campaign fulfillment. This eliminates a great deal of potential delays and issues because it won't matter if I'm busy with school, or burnt out, or sick, or traveling - I'll be able to focus on the art and the campaign itself and place the actual fulfillment process in more responsible hands. Less chaos.
- More thoughtful consideration of timing. Something posessed me to run the Tiny Warriors campaign in the middle of a busy term at my school. I will not repeat this action. I learned the hard way from my Burnout Speedrun.

MY SHOP
My shop is currently paused and I am not taking new orders. Previously, I kept my shop open at all times and allowed backlogs of orders to accrue until they became overwhelming for me shipping times, response times - everything - suffered as a result. When I've caught up on all outstanding orders and confidently feel that I am able to reopen, I will be running my shop a lot differently. It will likely go one of these two ways:

Option A: third party fulfillment; Similar to my plan for future campaigns I am considering third party order fulfillment services for my shop as well. I'm still looking into this option logistically but it would have my shop remain open for a longer duration of time since personal time management would be less of a factor.
Option B: small, controlled shop openings; This option has me continuing to handle order fulfillment myself but only during times when I have less going externally and can properly devote time to packing and shipping orders. What this would end up looking like is something like an order-capped 'shop drop' a few times a year rather than leaving my shop open at all times.

I'm still a bit unsure about which option is best between these two so I appreciate any suggestions as well. Please rest assured that I won't be reopening until I have a clear and concise plan forward.

COMMUNICATIONS

I've talked about this in all of my most recent updates as well but I'm working to improve my communication habits - I tend to get sort of 'lost in the sauce' between emails, twitter dm, instagram dm, etc - I may in the near future funnel all business related inquiries through email only so everything is just in one place. A good way to nudge and remind me is with a reply on these update posts.

_

TL;DR UPDATE

Fulfillment:

Up to this date if you requested freebies due to delayed unfulfilled order I did make a note on your order.
Orders are being shipped with those freebies included, aiming for completion during spring
You will receive quality checked items (not B grades) unless I otherwise specifically communicated with you about giving you a B grade pin

Going forward:

Any future campaigns will use a third party fulfillment service preventing delays like this from repeating
My shop will probably either work the same or have small controlled opening periods

...Whew. I apologize for the text wall but I had a lot I wanted to say. Thank you so much for your patience and understanding. I also understand completely if you are frustrated with the delays - but I am making progress. I'll continue to update frequently as well.

Soupy

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