Indie sales a ‘gogo’
Crowdfunding site lets inventors hawk wares
Better make it a crowdfunded Christmas this year.
That’s the holiday pitch from Indiegogo, which for the first time is selling gadgets, toys and accessories from entrepreneurs and inventors who have been financially backed by the crowdfunding site.
That means, for example, that you can now log onto Indiegogo.com to buy a $390 airpowered pogo stick; a $45 “Nano Drone” that fits in the palm of your hand; or a fourpack of Flic wireless “smart buttons” for $99.
Indiegogo lists more than 100 products as available for “shipping now.” A Cyber Monday event will hawk discounts on 15 to 20 of them, according to the company.
That’s a big change from the typical crowdfunding experience of the past, in which campaign backers have been forced to wait for uncertain stretches — typically measured in months — to get a product after making their contribution.
New Yorkbased Indiegogo’s move into ecommerce is part of a “natural evolution” as the sheer number of products getting cranked out gains critical mass, Chief Executive Slava Rubin told The Post.
“This has always been our vision — a directtoconsumer market,” said Rubin, who founded the site in 2008. “We are simply trying to make it easier for people with great ideas to get to their customers.”
To date, Indiegogo has funneled more than $800 million into thousands of projects on its site, with hightech gadgets alone having tripled over the past year.
As with fundraising campaigns, Indiegogo charges sellers a 5 percent commission for sales on the site, plus any transaction and shipping fees charged by third parties.
Earlier this month, Indiegogo announced a partnership to sell a dozen different gadgets during the holidays at Brookstone stores, including beer dispensers and catear headphones.
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