IndieGoGo Review

IndieGoGo offers those with an idea – creative, cause-related, or entrepreneurial – the tools to build a campaign and raise money.

Have you had experience with IndieGoGo? What do you think? Leave your comments below.

P.S. Please provide honest reviews and do not try to pump your own product / service. Reviews are analysed through various means including checking out the IP address, email address and more. Sorry to those of you that didn’t need to hear that, we just wanna make sure true opinions are being reflected! :)

 

 

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Never got the money

Jan 10, 2014 by Tom

BEWARE! Ran a campaign but never received the money. Do not use Indiegogo.


Coolship/Android Keyboard Ripoff!

Nov 04, 2013 by Steve

I had donated to a project called Coolship the android keyboard. I paid $240 (with currency exchange) for two keyboards and the project was successful. My money was paid to FocusWill Information Technology Co.,Ltd (who has vanished apparently, domain focuswill.com is gone as well) and received a lot of "update" emails. After a few months without an update and the recent one saying shipping delays because of extra shipping costs it had well past the 45 days I could get my paypal refunded. A month later after trying to contact the campaign owner I was asked for more money ($55) to ship the keyboards express.

At this time I figured out the lists of orders they supposedly processed were fake and did not send anymore money. Trying to contact indiegogo has given me nothing and I cannot get a refund via Paypal after 45 days.

SO long story short, beware if using paypal or even your CC for funding campaigns as Indiegogo does not seem to have any way to make sure you get your items. If I knew all this upfront I would never donate to any campaign if they can't deliver in 45 days.


no quality control

Oct 28, 2013 by martin

i donated to a project, commited to providing us with "goog quality watches for an affordable price"
the Name of the starters is MVMT and they claimed to get their backers the watches with a discount of 45$. i paied 59$. so the amount in question in theory would be 104$.
imagine my surprise, when i discovered, that they sell their watches for the exact amount of 59$ on their own website.
so i didn´get no dicount at all. i got the regular retail price.

indigogo basically said, that no one on their platform needs to keep their promise and that most people are happy to support them anyway.


so if you go there, beware, that no one is going to help you, should anything go wrong.


Great experience

Oct 19, 2013 by L. Herrera

I can see that there are a lot of unhappy people here who feel cheated or ignored by the site which is expected when dealing with the crowd funding world. When I first of Indiegogo I didn't know what it was. All I know was that my boys wanted too buy a perk for a video game upstart company. When I asked them how much they needed they told me $149.00. I was shocked at the cost but when they said that they were donating the money my first response was "Are you two crazy???" Video game companies make millions of dollars so why the heck are they begging for money. After researching the company I allowed them to donate their money but I warned them that if they didn't receive their perk then oh well lesson learned. Well they received their perk, the company surpassed their goal and everyone was happy. Since then I follow Indiegogo and I donate to causes that I never would have known existed.
My point is Indiegogo is obviously not perfect but it gives anyone a chance to create a campaign no matter how crazy it is. I mean it's better than standing on a corner, holding a cup out, and begging for money. I'm just saying.......


My experience Indie SoSo

Oct 03, 2013 by Marvin Haak

Ran 3 health campaigns and 1 small business campaign on Indie GoGo, Did poor on all. 1% and under on all, but I did get what was raised but it did take from 3 weeks to 6 weeks after closing to get funds. That said you need to look at what does good here, Film and such projects do well, but the traffic in the other area's is so so to not good at all. I would look at the venue I am in before I would post here, and you need to hit $500 in 2 weeks or you are off the public pages, can be hard to do. Some health campaigns do well, but most do so so to poor as I have tracked a few, my own and some friends. So I would say look at the area you will be in for a few weeks before you go for it.


It was a good experience

Aug 09, 2013 by John Moran

When I was researching Indiegogo before starting (and after) I read all the horrible reviews here, and was worried. I've never submitted a review before, but to counteract these, I felt I should. My experience was very positive. Customer service was helpful, and nice about it. I didn't make my goal, but it was better than nothing (and my own fault, too). I just got notified that the funds I raised were sent. After reading the other statements here, it seems that they were written by people who have no understanding of how crowd funding works. You need to make sure your campaign is interesting to people, and clear. You need to get it to people yourself; Indiegogo couldn't possibly do that for a person, it's your campaign. The technical side of the site was very good, and there was only one issue at the end, where Chase bank wouldn't recognize Indiegogo for a week. But that's not Indiegogo's fault, and they even got back to me with an apology very quickly. So, my advice is to think of it as a platform that allows you to do what you can yourself. They took 9% (which is ok) plus 3%. - it was a chunk, but I knew that going in. They were very trustworthy in all ways possible.


Dishonest platform

Jul 26, 2013 by R Smith

Indiegogo did not list my campaign in any browser search for the first 30 DAYS. Which means each and every contributor could have just purchased from my website. I sent traffic to them - and advertised their business - and for that they kept 9% of MY money. I have complained 8 times - each time they say "thank you for your comments - you are at fault". I believe it is because there is no management looking at the worthless "customer service" going on. VERY BAD BUSINESS. I have complained to the BBB and am now reporting to the FTC and FCC.


IndieNoNo Funds: where is the money?

Jun 17, 2013 by Anne D'Alessandro

After several repeated requests, my daughter has never received funds she raised for a dance performance in NYC. Several friends and I contributed and we are angry that she has yet to receive our contributions. The event ended over 6 weeks ago. I will never fund anything through IndieGoGo and neither should anyone else! She is a struggling artist as are her dancers. They cannot wait this long to pay expenses. Shameful behavior! I am looking into a legal recourse for this worthless organization.


DO NOT USE INDIEGOGO TO RUN A CAMPAIGN

Jun 12, 2013 by Mr A Blue

OK. This is one of those pieces of information that you will really, really be pleased to have read.
DO NOT, NEVER EVER, RUN A CAMPAIGN ON INDIEGOGO.
Until they sort themselves out.
At present I know of a few campaign owners who are right up shits creek without a paddle. Paypal have frozen, YES FROZEN 100% of the funds in each campaigns Paypal Accounts. BUT, and this is important, although the campaign owners CANNOT use ANY FUNDS in their account (due to Paypal saying that crowdfunding is Too high a risk to allow any money to be used by the campaign owners), Indiegogo still get their cut taken from those paypals accounts and placed into the indiegogo coffers. Go figure that.
Now in every case the campaign owners have been told by Paypal that because of the high risk, NO FUNDS will be released until every contributor receives and is happy with their perks. The very fact that these are CROWDFUNDING CAMPAIGNS to get funds to be able to develop products and then to be able to pay for tooling and production, is not a valid argument with Paypal.
Paypal simply say, well go and get a bank loan to pay for the campaign costs.
SO in Summary: WHY INDEED WOULD THAT CAMPAING OWNER RUN A CAMPAIGN IN THE FIRST PLACE. ?????????


PERKS NOT OFFERED TO DONORS

May 09, 2013 by Janis Dasilva

MY FRIEND JUST DONATED $25 AND SHE WAS SUPPOSE TO GET A PERK AS IT SAYS ON MY PAGE, BUT AFTER YOU TOOK HER MONEY YOU SAID TO HER "NO PERK" PLEASE FIX THIS I CANNOT EMAIL YOU, PLEASE IF I DIDN'T KNOW HER SHE WOULD THINK YOUR COMPANY IS A BULLSHIT LIAR


Big Scam

Apr 30, 2013 by Garth Hagerman

The best thing I can say about Indiegogo is that they're utterly worthless. My campaign ended a week ago. All of the contributors were people I already knew. There is no hint of a trace of evidence that anybody other than the people I referred saw my campaign's page. To add insult to injury, I still haven't seen a nickel of the money I raised all by myself with no help from Indiegogo. While the campaign's page said "This campaign will receive all of the funds contributed by Tue 23 Apr 11:59PM PT", Indiegogo's support blandly recites a line buried in a FAQ page saying it might take two weeks before they get around to the arduous task of sending a few bytes of information from their computer to my bank's. Indiegogo is vermin which should be eliminated. Do not do business with them.


Useless

Apr 06, 2013 by Holly

I made multiple contributions to a campaign via Indiegogo as part of an offer to the campaign owner to match a certain amount of contributions, as a way to encourage donors. Indiegogo asked for verification information from me via email, which I immediately provided. Nevertheless, they held the contributions from the campaign pending further investigation. I made multiple attempts to contact them by phone, leaving messages as a human being never answered, but no phone call was ever returned. I also sent multiple emails without success at rectifying the situation. By their failure to add my donations to the campaign's total, the campaign almost missed meting their goal. When the campaign closed, and had met its goal, I disputed the charges in question through my credit card company, and my account has been credited back. I will send a check to the campaign owner instead. I agree with Indiegogo's request for donation verification (when they sam multiple charges on the same credit card), but despite my verifying these charges as legitimate, Indiegogo felt it appropriate to keep my money and not direct it where it was intended. Buyer beware!!!


stonewalling on a contribution refund

Mar 29, 2013 by Christine

On March 25, 2013, I made a contribution to a campaign on Indiegogo. I paid via Paypal. I used the wrong credit card for the payment so I immediately wrote to Indiegogo's customer support. Amber of customer support replied that to get a refund I should contact the campaign owner bec. the payment is between the campaign, Paypal and me. I wrote to the campaign owner and he replied that he tried to contact Indiegogo regarding my request and other similar requests in the past but got no reply. Since Indiegogo is on Paypal's invoice as the recipient of my contribution, then they should issue the refund. The campaign is still active so there shouldn't be a problem of giving me the refund.


Mar 23, 2013 by Saty

Doesn't make sense to pay them so much!!!

9%!!! That's robbery!


Horrible

Feb 11, 2013 by Mark Shvarts

I should have read the reviews here before I decided to start my campaign on Indiegogo. After a a few days of running, my campaign was frozen, as well as my account. After sending 5 emails, I finally got a response. Explanation was given as "unusual activity". By that time we have raised measly $725. I was told by email to submit every kind of document to prove that I was human, as well as phone numbers. No one called ever, and copies of my passport and driver's license apparently were not enough. They said they were sorry for the inconvenience (!) but their decision stayed. I asked them what should I do with the money collected, to send it to the recipient or return to donors - no response. I have filed a complaint with Better Business Bureau. I will NEVER EVER use them again for anything...


Not sure I made a donation

Dec 21, 2012 by Sandy

Thought I made a donation to a cause I support. I was to get a perk in return. I never received it. Not that the perk is the issue, but for months now I've been on the list to receive the mass emails with 'updates'. They repeat the same message over and over: "perks are on the way". I tried to read the Comments tab to see if I'm alone here, and surprisingly, that's the only tab that doesn't load. So, is there an actual fund? Did I make a donation? Will I get my perk? Given the other reviews here, I have my doubts.


Sucks

Nov 10, 2012 by CJ

We set a fundraising campaign on indiegogo with the best top level promotion. However, we got almost ZERO fund and no help from indiegog. All they want is us to bring in our own network and our blood work to their website, we can't even find our campaign from their website at all if there is no external link to show our people. Why do we have to set up a campaign there for them to suck up our money when it is all our hardwork and promotion? They are just sitting there waiting for us to bring in people to their website.


Frustrating

Oct 03, 2012 by Troy Hawkins

I've had my campaign running for 20 days now. 728 views as of just now. Not a single donation (except for the one I made). Worse, not a single one of my 728 visitors has left a comment, so I don't know why people aren't contributing. I've tried different sort of perks, I've reworked my pitch, but no effect. I asked customer service if they could review my campaign and offer suggestions, but no, they would only refer me to their "tips" page. I don't have video equipment or the knowledge to make a fancy pitch video. I don't have a prototype to show off because I don't have any money to build it. Maybe really nobody's interested in my invention except for myself. It seems that it would be in Indiegogo's best interests to help us be successful.


Not really

Sep 25, 2012 by Mila

I and my team running campaign on IndieGoGo right now and it is become nightmare. First we did hell of a job to promote ourself- I know, it is our job. That's why we got on first page after 1 week. Now they placed on hold our main backer, who's contribution is very valuable for us(IndieGoGo placed it first and then subtracted back- how frustrating it is!!!). For 5 days no response, nothing.Just " We reviewing your request".No phone number to call and speak to alive person. Second,would you be frustrated if people calling or messaging you and saying: Listen, you girls are awesome and we love your project. I will give you cash, distribute yourself, because I tried 3 times and they gave me a hard time, my money don't go thru....Are you serious?I have all these emails...It is very disappointing and we are in panic.Looks like we should do something about it.


Bad customer service

Aug 25, 2012 by James

Made a donation to a fundraiser and accidently hit the submit button twice. It made two donations. I immediately tried to contact cistomer support but the only choice was to send an email. A computer generated response confirmed receipt of the error and said it will review and if money is not transferred to owner yet they will refund. Of course since that will cut into their profits I did not ever get any review response from the company.


Crowdfunding Websites , USA 1.2 5.0 108 108 I was scammed for a lot of money so I hope this review helps someone. I never write reviews which I feel bad because they are helpful but I will not stand and let others get straig
RECOMMENDED CROWDFUNDING WEBSITES:

GoGetFunding is our recommended website for personal / cause fundraising.

Kickstarter is recommended for creative all-or-nothing campaigns.

Crowdfunder.com is the place to go for equity crowdfunding.