Chicken Salt Kickstarter...why?

Anything related to Kickstarter
AlmostHuman
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Fri Mar 13, 2015 7:38 pm

I looked at the Chicken Salt Kickstarter (a Food project).

Per the Kickstarter, you can get 1 bottle of Chicken Salt for $10.00 (includes shipping). However, on Amazon I can get the same item for $3.99 plus $3.16 shipping.

So...the product is already commercially available and cheaper outside the Kickstarter. Why is there a Kickstarter?

I like to support "startups" - even if I estimate the final commercialized product will be cheaper than the Kickstarter price. However, if I can already buy the exact same product through Amazon at a cheaper price - it doesn't appeal to me as a Kickstarter.

Oh yeah - I'm buying some of the Chicken Salt via Amazon. It sounds good. I'll use the extra $2.85 on another Kickstarter. :-)
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TashaTurner
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Fri Mar 13, 2015 10:35 pm

Thanks for checking that out. Something doesn't sound right there. Is it the exact same company?
-Tasha http://www.kickstarter.com/profile/479254504
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TashaTurner
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Fri Mar 13, 2015 11:02 pm

I've written to the co-founders. Something doesn't feel right.
-Tasha http://www.kickstarter.com/profile/479254504
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Toren
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Fri Mar 13, 2015 11:50 pm

Yes it is the same product from jadas spices.
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AlmostHuman
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Sun Mar 15, 2015 8:50 pm

TashaTurner wrote:Thanks for checking that out. Something doesn't sound right there. Is it the exact same company?
As nearly as I can tell, it's the same.

Quoting from the Amazon site:
JADA Spices LLC
Product Description
Chicken Salt is a 100% Authentic Vegan Kosher Parve Seasoning made with "Pure Ocean® Sea Salt," Turmeric, Onion Powder and Garlic Powder - No Chicken Products & No Manufactured Food Additives - Gluten & MSG Free - Paleo and Vegan Diet compatible- Use as Table Salt or Chicken Bouillon. Spice up all your meals with just one seasoning!

- Vegan: Despite the name "Chicken salt", it contains no chicken ingredients but rather tastes like chicken, making it absolutely safe for Vegans.
- Kosher Parve: There is no dairy in Chicken Salt. We are approved by the Orthodox Rabbi Union for Kosher and Parve Certification; Chicken Salt is a Kosher salt.
- No Manufactured Food additives: Chicken salt is made of turmeric, onion powder, garlic powder and Sea salt. NO anti-caking agents, NO MSG, NO sugar, NO soy and NO chemicals.
- Gluten Free: People who are Gluten sensitive can fully enjoy our seasoning.
- Paleo Diet Compatible- The ingredients in Chicken Salt make it suitable for this modern nutritional diet.
- No Need for Table Salt: - For starters, it is an alternative to Table salt. Our seasoning uses Pure Ocean Sea Salt with a refreshingly different flavor.
- No Need for Chicken Bouillon: Chicken Salt does not contain the same ingredients, meat extracts, MSG and chemicals present in chicken bouillon.
- Multiple Usages: - Chicken Salt can accompany just about any kind of meal including stews, beef, chicken, vegetables, eggs, popcorn and French Fries. On a special diet? Great! Chicken Salt is right for you; use it for Paleo and Vegan diets!

Chicken Salt is safe to use before, during, and after cooking. Use it in any way you like and enjoy its rich flavor! Don't be a Chicken, try me!

****
Quoting from the Kickstarter:
What makes Chicken Salt unique?

Vegan: Despite the name “Chicken salt", it contains no chicken ingredients but rather tastes like chicken, making it absolutely safe for Vegans.

Kosher Parve: Chicken Salt is a Kosher salt. There is no dairy in Chicken Salt. We are approved by the Orthodox Rabbi Union for Kosher and Parve Certification.

No Manufactured Food additives: Chicken Salt is made of turmeric, onion powder, garlic powder and sea salt. No anti-caking agents, no MSG, sugar, soy or chemicals.

No Need for Chicken Bouillon: Chicken Salt does not contain the same ingredients, meat extracts, MSG and chemicals present in chicken bouillon.

No Need for Table Salt: Chicken Salt is a great alternative to table salt that uses pure ocean sea salt with a refreshingly different flavor.

On a special diet? Great! Chicken Salt is right for you; use it for Paleo and Vegan diets!

Gluten Free: People who are Gluten sensitive can fully enjoy our seasoning.

Paleo Diet Compatible: The ingredients in Chicken Salt make it suitable for this modern nutritional diet.

Multiple Uses: Chicken Salt compliments a multitude of dishes including stews, beef, chicken, vegetables, eggs, popcorn and french fries. Chicken Salt is safe to use before, during, and after cooking. Use it in any way you like and enjoy its rich flavor!

Describing Our Taste:

Miso soup flavored sprinkles
Sautéed taste buds with smooth talking seasoned salty goodness
A Gold Medalist, salt water swimming chicken strictly on an onion & garlic powder diet
Kid friendly veggies
Everlasting, finger licking veggie chicken noodle soup
If Chicken Bouillon had a HEALTHY baby!
We strongly believe seasonings are the source of flavor we have come to love, and JADA’s Chicken Salt aims to earn that recognition with its complete package of flavors.

So have some Chicken Salt, with food on the side! Don’t be a Chicken, try me!

***
So, I think the effort is the same...which brings up the issue of "Why the Kickstarter?" I guess they figured they could boost name recognition while charging extra via Kickstarter.

I will not support the Kickstarter. As good as it sounds, I don't think I'll buy any from Amazon either - this just doesn't seem right.
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TashaTurner
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Sun Mar 15, 2015 10:09 pm

The founders have removed it from the BackerClub projects. I'm not sure if I've heard back from creator as to what makes it different from Amazon project or from Kickstarter as I reported project.
-Tasha http://www.kickstarter.com/profile/479254504
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TashaTurner
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Sun Mar 15, 2015 10:27 pm

Jada Spice & I in the comment section of their Kickstarter:

Creator JADA Spices about 20 hours ago
Dear Tasha,
It saddens us to hear a customer feels deceived. We love our company and we love our customers. We are as start up as they come, we manufacture, bottle and market our product all by ourselves just the two of us and love doing so. We put passion and love into Chicken Salt and our proud to share it with you. Thank you all.
Sincerely,
Jon and Sara

Tasha "Explaitten" (Turner) Lennhoff about 20 hours ago
I advice you in the future to tell your backers this up front. I feel deceived as you make it sound like its a brand new product. I'm unclear as to what backers money will be used for since you already have a manufacturer and bottler and marketing in place.

Creator JADA Spices 1 day ago
Hello Tasha, thank you for your pledge and comment. Our product can be purchased on our website or amazon.com for $3.99 plus shipping totaling $7.15. We did originally have the first pledge for $8 but we decided to increase it by $2.85 to make the pledge divisible by $5. This was advised to us by several experienced kickstarter creators. We also ran our pledges by the kickstarter staff because we would never want to advantage of any of our customers. Additionally, we came to find out that other kickstarter projects funding a food item who did really well have similarly increased there product price for there pledge. Kickstarter backers not only purchase a product but support a blossoming company and its development. We thank you again and we appreciate your support. Enjoy!

Tasha "Explaitten" (Turner) Lennhoff 1 day ago
Can you tell me what's different about this from the Jada Salt you sell on Amazon for $3.99 a bottle http://www.amazon.com/Chicken-Salt-Vega ... B00P89MGYG
-Tasha http://www.kickstarter.com/profile/479254504
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TashaTurner
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Sun Mar 15, 2015 10:33 pm

No word from Kickstarter yet. If they mentioned they were a small company looking to enlarge their manufacturing and disclosed thier product is currently for sale on Amazon I wouldn't have as big a problem.., overcharging for product yes but not outright lying.

Another backer discovered they lied to me about cost of 2 bottles and shipping. It's going to be another very ugly Kickstarter project.

I reported them to Kickstarter as misrepresenting themselves.
-Tasha http://www.kickstarter.com/profile/479254504
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Social media coach http://tasha-turner.com @turner_tasha
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AlmostHuman
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Thu Mar 19, 2015 9:00 pm

TashaTurner wrote:No word from Kickstarter yet. If they mentioned they were a small company looking to enlarge their manufacturing and disclosed thier product is currently for sale on Amazon I wouldn't have as big a problem.., overcharging for product yes but not outright lying.

Another backer discovered they lied to me about cost of 2 bottles and shipping. It's going to be another very ugly Kickstarter project.

I reported them to Kickstarter as misrepresenting themselves.
I don't think Kickstarter will need to yank their project. I just looked at their tally - it looks doubtful that Chicken Salt will hit their funding mark.
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TashaTurner
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Thu Mar 19, 2015 11:54 pm

Yeah looking at Kicktraq backers are pulling pledges. I'm assuming its a combo of the email from here (campaign still shows BackerClub banner) combined with the creators unwillingness to admit any dishonesty and update their story/description to answer questions asked in comments nor have the done an "updated rewards" to reflect reality of pricing it's currently available at.

Shrugs I gave them suggestions on how to fix their mistake. Someone after me gave even more detail on how to clean up & regain backer trust.
-Tasha http://www.kickstarter.com/profile/479254504
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