February Update - Almost on The Road Again
about 2 months ago
– Fri, Feb 23, 2024 at 05:05:52 PM
Hello friends,
As usual, I’ve been holding out on an update until there was something to actually update you on. That time has come.
This is an update on the status of the USA shipping, something we’ve all been waiting on for quite some time.
A lot has happened over the past few weeks, a lot of emotions have been poured out, a lot of anxiety and prayer. I’m going to tell you a bit about it but if you don’t care to know, you can find the official status down below under “Shipping Status,” so just scroll down until you see that.
For the rest of you, here’s the story of this past month…
As you may have followed from the tracking link on the update from last month, the cargo bound for the USA reached port of Savannah back on February 5th. But this was not the only container that arrived in the USA.
I’ve done my best to lay out to all of you my vision for the High Noon brand and its future. This Kickstarter served as the first seed of that venture. As I’ve said before, unlike most Kickstarters for games (and this is not anything against those Kickstarters), this campaign was never intended to be a one-shot. The goal here has always been to launch a bold brand with a strong and wide reach of products: Hit the market hard and use that momentum to keep on going.
At the end of the day, all of you would have a copy of the game and its expansions for your support and the brand itself would have enough inventory to sell and grow capital for future productions, expansions and even other areas of the entertainment industry (merchandising, toys, books, shows, films, etc.)
That sell-off inventory arrived at my office on a separate container on February 7th, just 2 days after your copies arrived at the port warehouse for delivery to our fulfillment center.
However, unlike my sell-off inventory that arrived without incident, your items were sharing a container with other importers and needed to be offloaded at the Customs warehouse for sorting. It was there in the warehouse that Customs identified a small – yet significant oversight, one I, myself am directly responsible for.
Despite the cases for all of the items marking their country of origin, the packaging for each individual unit was missing such a mark. It is in the artwork files, but – in my haste to complete the packaging artwork for all of the items – I forgot to move the mark out from under the barcode graphics when I repositioned them, resulting in them not being on the final print work.
As a result, Customs held the cargo until the items could be labeled. This is entirely my fault.
I was not aware of this issue until a week later when they delivered the news to us. By then, the cargo had been on hold in the warehouse for that week, accruing storage fees.
I was advised that this happens a lot and importers are usually allowed a conditional release of their cargo, provided they mark the items with labels before shipping. This worked in my favor because there were some barcode mismatches anyway and several items needed to be re-barcoded. Adding the “Made In China” text to the barcodes was a very simple fix and one we could do at the fulfillment center.
However, it seemed our cargo was singled out from the tens of thousands of shipments that pass through the port every month, where Customs had decided not to allow the provisional release and was instead requiring me to have the warehouse label the products. The quote to re-label everything came back to the tune of several thousands of dollars, money I simply don't have after everything I have endured to get the cargo this far.
My shipper spent the next 2 weeks working with the Customs agent to reach a solution, but it didn’t seem like Customs was willing to budge on the issue.
Last week, I was made aware of the situation in its entirety and my heart sank into my stomach. With no way to pay the warehouse to label the items, it seemed as if everything I had worked so hard for and all the patience you all have given to me and this campaign would ultimately end in nothing, all because of a simple sticker on a package.
So I reached out to Customs myself and I spoke to them about my situation and their concerns. At first, they were very frustrated with me because they’d already gone over this with my shipper. But after they heard my story, I could hear a crack of sympathy in their voice.
The agent expressed to me her concern that anyone could promise anything and go off and do whatever they wanted once their shipment was released and, given that I had no track record to show for myself, there was no telling what I’d do.
I told them I’d do anything to make it right, even drive up to the port with my own labels and fix everything in front of them if I had to.
The agent told me to send her photos of my proposed solution and she would try and push a conditional release “up the chain,” something that would likely take weeks to do, if successful.
Fortunately, I had labels at my office, as well as a stash of inventory to showcase, so I labeled a few items with the barcodes and markings and sent them to her immediately.
That was a week ago. For an entire week, we were met with radio silence and growing storage fees.
Then the weekend hit.
Then the holiday.
Then Monday.
Then Tuesday.
On Wednesday, with no word from Customs, we received our first invoice from the warehouse, a bill equaling the amount to label the items, doubling a fee I already couldn’t afford.
I was demoing High Noon at a local game store at the time and my gut sank even lower. Here I was, showcasing my game to people, while silently mulling over the very real possibility that I wouldn’t have a game at all by tomorrow.
A thought occurred to me, I could fulfill almost all of the pledges with what I had in my possession, but not everything. The upgrade tiles would need to be reproduced, as well as the Kickstarter Expansion loot, a few thousand dollars expense I could eventually afford, but would be months – if not a year – out to fulfill to you all.
And even then, I would have nothing left. Without inventory to sell, that would be the end of my game, I’d have made good on my commitment to you, at the cost of everything in the future.
It was an outcome I wasn’t happy with, but one in which my conscience could rest.
I have always promised not just you all but also myself that I would never allow High Noon to fall into the category of the litany of Kickstarters that took your money and ran. Come Hell or High Noon, you would all get your games and expansions.
Still, that would be a last resort.
I had phoned a friend, who is close with our Congressman, for a lifeline. Though I’m not in the same state as the fulfillment center, we are neighboring states and Congressmen tend to mingle on Capitol Hill. It was a long shot, but another friend had done the same and gotten his music venue approved by the city council across the boarder, the very next day. Miracles could happen.
It was after that phone call, standing outside the game store, that I felt a sudden wave of relief wash over me.
Miracles have happened.
You’ll recall while I was at Essen, the miracle of the delivery of our games to the port, clearing German Customs and delivered just as the show began, something nobody had ever seen before.
Standing in the parking lot, I was reminded by a voice in my head of the prayer I prayed in Essen, “God, if you want these games here, nothing can stop them from getting here. And if you don’t want them here, nothing I do will get them here. And if you don’t want them here, it’s because you have another plan in mind and it’s not for me to know, say or decide what that plan is. Your will be done.”
In that moment, I released everything to Him and went back inside to finish my demo.
This morning, as I sat at my office desk to print out my documents to submit to my Congressman, I received an email from the Customs Agent. She had finally gotten caught up with her emails from the holiday weekend and reviewed my proposal.
“Looks perfect!” She said.
And just like that, we got our conditional release.
My friends, we aren’t out of the woods yet, but we are close. And that brings us to the…
Shipping Status
As of today, the goods have been released, but we still need to get them trucked over to Atlanta, about a 4 hour journey. From there, the goods need to be offloaded, unpacked, labeled and documented for Customs and then processed for fulfillment.
We are shooting for a Monday delivery to the fulfillment center. There are some scheduling issues with another container at the fulfillment center so the window is VERY tight, but everyone is working around the clock to get this done.
As for me, I will personally be heading up to Atlanta – a 6 hour drive for me – to personally label each and every one of the 4,000+ units.
Once that’s done, fulfillment can officially begin.
That’s how close we are.
Now to a different subject that’s even more difficult for me to bring up, but I have no choice at this point…
Stop the Bleeding
Given everything that we have endured over the last 6 years, if High Noon has any hope of success, we need to stop the bleeding immediately. I simply cannot afford any additional costs and I refuse to pass that on to you. It’s not your fault, nor your responsibility.
But it does need to happen.
There are still bills to be paid, fulfillment centers that haven’t even begun shipping and will be issuing invoices to me very soon. There’s still a balance on the containers as well. The shipper has been very gracious to work with me on those but they need to be paid also.
Furthermore, while the warehouse has agreed to stop charging me for storage – provided the cargo is picked up by Monday – there is still the outstanding invoice of several thousands of dollars to release the cargo so it can be delivered to the fulfillment center.
Thankfully, I have been blessed by two incredible and supportive parents who have stepped up more than once to help me see this campaign to its conclusion. They’ve agreed to cover the bill just so I can get the games to you all. I will never be able to put into words how much encouragement they have given me through this entire endeavor, nor will I be able to thank them enough for coming through in my darkest hours. This truly is a family business, through and through.
That said, I have inventory to sell and I need to sell it. So as of this writing, I am opening up the High Noon shop to US customers. All sales from the shop are going directly to the costs of finishing this campaign out and getting you your games.
I don’t like it. I feel dirty just doing it, but I don’t see any other way to stay afloat at this juncture and I am throwing myself on the mercy of you all to understand my situation. I have never wavered in my commitment to you all, and I don't intend to waver now.
What does that mean for all of you? Well, grabbing a few packs of chips and token upgrades to finish out your own collections goes a long way to help cover the gap. Thinking about a gift for a relative or friend? Consider grabbing a copy of High Noon and some expansions to share the love. OR grab a copy through the store for yourself and gift your pledge to someone you know and love when it arrives.
I know many of you put up all you can afford, especially in this economy, so simply spreading the word far and wide that High Noon is available is more than enough.
Talk to your local game stores about carrying High Noon and have them reach out to start a wholesale order with us.
I know I keep saying it, but it gets truer every day: we are nearing the finish line on this campaign and you’ll all be playing High Noon with your friends and family sooner than you think.
For those of you in the Asia Pacific, Australia, etc. we are nearing the week 5 mark, for delivery to the fulfillment center in Taiwan. If I don’t get an update from VFI on Monday, I will reach out for word and let you all know the status.
While in Atlanta next week, I will be at Discover Games to run some High Noon skirmishes and socialize with gamers. If you’re in the area, consider coming by to say hello, support your local business and play a game with me.
This concludes February’s update. I look forward to delivering a thrilling update in March as you all begin to receive your thrilling emails with tracking numbers!
Thank you everyone.
Until next time!
