Kickstarter UK has kicked off direct crowdfunding for British projects seeking financial aid.
For investors who want to take the plunge in to this new scene, here’s a quick guide to pledging money via Kickstarter UK.
I can’t find Kickstarter’s UK site
There isn’t one – the US site covers the UK – check the cities section in the far right column and click on London or search for London in the box in the same section.
If you want a wider UK search, put ‘UK’ in the box to return all British projects.
I want to fund a project through Kickstarter
Click the ‘Start Project’ button in the header and a box comes up populated for UK fundraisers.
You must be:
- UK resident either creating a project in your own name or on behalf of a legal entity with a Companies House registration number
- Have a UK address, UK bank account, and government-issued ID, like a driving license or passport
- Hold a UK credit or debit card
- Aged 18 or more
Click to confirm you qualify as a British project and create an account – then fill in your pitch details.
Can anyone pledge to UK projects?
Yes. Anyone with a Kickstarter account from any country can pledge funds to a UK project
Will UK projects listed in Sterling?
Yes, but if you are pledging from outside the UK, the approximate conversion rate in US dollars will come up before you commit cash.
Will UK and US listings work the same way?
Yes – the process is the same for US and UK projects, although UK projects will enter payment details in to the Kickstarter site rather than Amazon Payments, the default for US projects.
Are UK and US project fees the same?
Kickstarter charges a 5% fee to successfully funded projects regardless of their geographical location, and no fee to unsuccessfully funded projects in the UK.
For UK projects, the processing fees are:
- Pledges less than £10 are charged 5% + £0.05
- Pledges of £10 or greater are charged 3% + £0.20
Streamlined international shipping costs
Creators have asked backers to add international shipping costs to their pledges for years, to pay for sending products overseas.
Backers often didn’t bother, so the site has been updated so international backers can add an additional amount to their pledges for these costs more easily.
Creators can also limit rewards to domestic backers only, as international shipping can be a difficult part of the process. The feature is available to UK and US projects.
