March Update #2
about 4 years ago
– Wed, Mar 23, 2022 at 07:43:53 PM
Hello everyone,
We received a number of questions and (understandably) concerns regarding the shipping rates we shared yesterday.
Here are a few options and details. We will include these in this week's survey going out.
Air shipments out of China are at record highs largely due to a number of factors that are out of our control. The lack of tourism/travel to China reduces the total capacity on passenger jets which is creating huge delays and price spikes. The fuel surcharges are also a big contributor. The prices we are showing are actual shipping costs only, all handling and materials are being paid by Rocksteady.
1. USA/Canada - Note that there are 2 options. If you are ok waiting for the goods to arrive to North America, the shipping cost you would pay is only what is shown in Option 2. For those who don't want to wait, we wanted to offer an expedited option. Your surveys will allow to pick one or the other.
2. Other territories: There are three options we'll offer:
Wait: Hold my shipment until rates come down. We don't know what the future holds, but we are hopeful that economic forces kick in before summer and rates drop.
Ship: Accept the rates. It is a tough pill to swallow, but you will be one of the first people on the planet and your total landed costs will still likely be lower than the retail pricing for similar bundles.
Cancel: Kickstarter and our marketing partners take a significant fee before we get the backing funds. If your are to cancel your order, we will accommodate your request with a small hold back. Hopefully not too many of you select this option as we have spent the pledge money on raw materials and molds.
Thank you for your patience and we hope to deliver some good news again soon.
Thanks
Jeff
March Update - Important
about 4 years ago
– Tue, Mar 22, 2022 at 09:09:20 PM
Hello from Rocksteady,
We are excited to announce that the subwoofer is finally entering production despite continued rolling blackouts and Covid lockdowns that have been taking place in the areas near factory.
The new and hopefully final challenge to getting launched is to overcome these extreme shipping rates and fuel surcharges, which has led to a 3x-4x increase in shipping costs since the start of this campaign.
We are preparing one more final "survey" to get shipping locked down, so please look for it in the coming days. There will be sticker shock (I'm sorry) and we worked with several vendors and partners seeking better rates.
(Note, taxes and duties will vary by country and territory and may be in addition to this.)
Please feel free to contact us at [email protected] for any questions, concerns, and ideas.
Have a safe and good day!
Jeff Leitman
Rocksteady Stadium February Update
about 4 years ago
– Tue, Feb 22, 2022 at 11:06:20 PM
Hello everyone,
Happy February everyone.
It has been a busy past month so I am excited to give everyone a quick up here.
1. The Kickstarter and Backerkit closed and the final count was orders to 35 countries. The complexity of managing all these orders and order configurations threw us for a loop, so I am happy to welcome Noah Freeman to the group who has taken over the logistics of the Kickstarter fulfillment.
2. The mold (or mould, depending on who you ask): The main raise for the Kickstarter was to pay for the mold to create the subwoofer casing and other plastic pieces. As you can see from the image below, that mold is now mostly complete and you'll see that we made a big improvement... See the speaker grill/guard. We are doing some final fine tuning of the mold now and will start production of the parts before the end of the month.
3. Software: We finished the tuning of the subwoofer and it sounds amazing; even better than the previous prototypes and we couldn't be happier. We are still tinkering with the firmware to improve connectivity and battery life, but that should be completed in the next couple weeks.
4. Timing: We are still pushing to get the software and hardware completed in the next few weeks and to have units coming out of the factory in China by the end of March. For USA and Canada orders, those shipments will be consolidated and then distributed once it hits North America. The rest of the world orders will drop ship directly from either Hong Kong or Shenzhen.
We are now in the process of shopping for best rates and hope to lock that down soon.
I recognize that I have been communicating production/ship targets and not delivery targets, which may be frustrating for some. The global shipping, especially for items with batteries, has been incredibly disrupted this past year+ and it is hard to give a firm timing. Shipping costs have also been through the roof, so we are hoping things line up.
Please don't hesitate to reach out if you have any questions. Thank you again for your patience. We are working hard to make sure that what we deliver to you is the absolute best solution we can make, and we are close to realizing that potential.
Thanks
Jeff
Important January Update
about 4 years ago
– Fri, Jan 14, 2022 at 04:12:53 PM
Hello everyone,
We have been pushing and pushing to get our subwoofers completed and shipped prior to CNY (Chinese New Year) but it looks like it they won't make it. We are now forecasting them to ship from our factory in late February.
There are a few reasons for the delay, but there is a silver lining.
- Delays with the mold: The plastic components of the subwoofer casing requires a forming mold. What usually takes 30-45 days has now taken over 60. The primary delay has been the roving power outages throughout China that we could not foresee heading into this. The mold should finish any day now, but we won't have enough time to make and assemble units prior to the work stoppage that comes with CNY later this month.
- Delays with some components: We have been waiting on a few parts required in the assembly of the PCB circuit board. While we expect to receive them shortly, we can't rush the assembly without risking quality.
So what is the silver lining?
- Hopefully reduced shipping costs. Shipping costs are insane right now. We have gotten 5 different quotes from different shipping companies and agents, and the cost to ship these to you right now is nearly triple what we were quoted last summer when this project began. We expect costs to come down somewhat after CNY and we have budgeted to offset some of these costs to help bring them down further.
- Time to get things right... We are still refining and working on key software that we feel will improve stability and performance.
I am sorry to report bad news and I appreciate your patience,
Thanks
Jeff Leitman
Rocksteady Audio
Rocksteady Stadium - Select your country's wall charger
over 4 years ago
– Wed, Dec 22, 2021 at 01:36:20 PM
Happy Holidays to all of your,
I just updated the Backerkit surveys for you to select the USB wall charger for your Country.
Please go in and select your charger selection now to give us sufficient time to get these orders right.
To find your survey, either open the previous email you received from Backerkit, or you can click this link and enter your email address to access your updated survey.
https://rocksteady.backerkit.com/
Thansk
Jeff
