What do crowdfunding Web site Kickstarter and online retailer Amazon.com have in common? Too much, critics charge.
Kickstarter fans, who have become a bit prickly over what they feel are too many frivolous campaigns, are seeing another worrisome trend crop up: entrepreneurs turning to the fundraising Web site to develop products that are already available elsewhere.
The latest example of this worrisome trend is the fundraising campaign for a heated butter knife and ice cream scoop from product designer That!
On Friday, the Bellevue, Wash., company launched a Kickstarter campaign seeking $20,000 for its high-tech knife, whose pitch is that it needs neither batteries nor electricity to generate heat.
The problem? The knife officially launched last year and can be purchased on Amazon.com. The knife also was available for sale on the company's Web site until late last Friday when That! took it down amid criticism.
"This is all new to us. We don't know what we're doing," lamented Howard Chiu, president of That!, when alerted to the criticism. Chiu said the money raised by Kickstarter will fund manufacturing tools needed "get it to mass production mode."
Later, Chiu said the money also will be used to add a new coating to the knife.
Some Kickstarter backers remain skeptical, however.
"The fact that this is already available through retail outlets makes me rethink my pledge. I think the creator has missed what crowdfunding is," one backer wrote.
A Kickstarter campaign for a waterproof bible was pilloried for similar reasons earlier this summer.
"I am using new technologies to print the Holy Bible … making them virtually indestructible," Forever Publishing founder Jared Casey wrote in describing the "Forever Bible."
However, Bobby Bardin of Bardin & Marsee Publishing, Casey's publishing partner, readily admits the product is nothing new. "We've been making waterproof bibles since 2005," Bardin said.
Bardin's waterproof bibles also can be purchased on Amazon.com for around $30 — or $10 less than the price of Casey's Kickstarter bibles.
Bardin said he has "had plenty of conversations" with Casey's team about the forthrightness of their Kickstarter pitch. But the publisher declined to comment on whether he will continue to do business with Casey if he gets his Kickstarter campaign back up and running.
Casey, who is connected to another failed Kickstarter campaign, called Radiate, didn't return requests for comment.
The crowdfunding company declined to comment on the intellectual-property dispute that has halted Casey's campaign.
Kickstarter fans blame lax, new rules introduced in June for launching campaigns on the site.
"Now that Kickstarter has removed some of their strict guidelines, it allows more lesser quality campaigns," said Dwight Peters, founder of BackersHub, a Web community for Kickstarter enthusiasts.
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