Kickstarter no longer home5/6/2023 Gill, a program manager at Microsoft and a digital media specialist who teaches at the University of Washington, said there “should be a unique place in purgatory” for projects like Coolest Cooler after she received a promo email for a $99 cooler - five years into her wait for the product she spent $185 on. Kathy Gill is clearly among those who are frustrated. “Once again, we are sorry and as frustrated as anyone,” he added. “We learned a lot of lessons these past few years, and no doubt we made plenty of startup mistakes,” said Grepper, whose creator profile on Kickstarter says he’s “part visionary, part mad scientist, and a passionate supporter of the DIY revolution.” It’s not clear whether Grepper, who was borrowing money to try and get coolers produced over the years, has cash on hand to settle the matter. (See the settlement document located at the bottom of this story). Grepper said that those who have not received a cooler “may be eligible for up to $20 per the terms of the Oregon Department of Justice AVC agreement from 2017.” GeekWire reached out to the Oregon DOJ, which said that Coolest has until June 6, 2020, to make the $20 payments to the remaining eligible backers. PREVIOUSLY: A Coolest Cooler backer finally got his, and GeekWire tested the high-tech gadget He also said if a backer or anyone else still wants to get their hands on what he considers a “truly great product,” they could try eBay or other resale sites. “We have zero funds to create or ship anything unless people pay for the existing inventory as it is dispersed at various locations now.” The Coolest Cooler website was advertising deep discounts on remaining inventory on Monday. “We are liquidating all inventory as we close the company and must use that to pay our creditors,” Grepper said. “Get ’em before they’re gone,” a banner image read. On the Coolest Cooler website on Monday, the company was offering existing inventory at deep discounts. But Grepper contended that Coolest couldn’t manufacture more coolers without making profit off sales first. The fact that the coolers were being sold elsewhere only added to the frustration for the Kickstarter supporters who felt that their orders should have been fulfilled first. At the time he told backers who had already been waiting two years for a cooler that it could be another three before the product would be shipped. The closure comes a year and a half after a June 2017 update in which Grepper said an Oregon Department of Justice investigation into the company had been resolved. We’ve reached out to Grepper for comment, and will update this story if we hear back. “For those who have not received a Coolest, it’s devastating for us to share this, and there is no way of expressing our full upset and disappointment that we cannot keep the doors open or fulfill your order,” he said. In his email update on Friday night, Grepper thanked those who supported the company and - if they managed to actually get a cooler - enjoyed using the “dream product.” Ryan Grepper, creator of the Coolest Cooler. Our goal is to help improve the chances that a project will work out for everyone, with the understanding that the risk will never be fully eliminated.” And in the five years since this project was funded, we’ve taken steps to help creators be more transparent with backers, and to better understand what it will take to bring their project to life. “We’ve worked hard to make it clear that Kickstarter is not a store. In this case, unfortunately, 1/3 of the backers won’t receive the reward they were promised,” Kickstarter’s statement read. There’s always a risk in creating something new, and some projects won’t end up working out. “Kickstarter is a home for creative projects. Coolest Cooler’s project page on Kickstarter. In a statement to GeekWire on Monday, Kickstarter reiterated that there’s no guarantee that all projects will work out. Coolest Cooler is now regarded as the crowdfunding platform’s biggest failure - even though, as the The Oregonian pointed out, you can find it listed as a “Project We Love” on the site.
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