A. I've had serious problems with payment processors. I finally have one I am happy with, but they require me to send individual invoices to customers. It is a hassle, to be sure, but one I am happy to deal with to finally have confidence in a processor. What this means for you is that you will reserve your picks, then, within 24 hours (I'll be sending in batches so I don't go crazy) you will recieve an invoice from me with a link to pay for your picks. If you fail to pay your invoice within a week your picks will be made available to the public again in the next round of sales.
A. Unfortunately, Amazon Payments blocked my account outright until I was able to successfully appeal, while promising not to use them as a payment processor for the lock picks. Google Checkout explicitly forbids the sale of lockpicks and PayPal's pre-approvals team, though I have had confirmation that they recieved my request and have dilligently recontacted them for an answer, have not actually responded telling me whether I could safely process transactions with them. There are options like Authorize.net and others that would probably work out, but all have significant contractual terms and sign up processes that go well beyond the scope of this sale. I have looked at many options and had many suggested to me.
A. I love Square! And I'm all set to use them...if you happen to bump into me in person. They do not yet (or will ever?) have a robust web-based payment service.
A. Because having tens of thousands of dollars locked away on the whim of one of these processors would be pretty miserable and might affect my ability to produce the picks.
A. "Because that's not how I want to do things. I'll get into this more in a bit, but the short version is - I am striving for the normalization of what I love. That can't be accomplished through trickery.
A. "One of the simplest ways to avoid payment processor headaches is to claim you will never sell tools to non-professionals, then do it anyway. Personally, I am unwilling to go that route. I have no qualms about selling to non-professionals, being that I am a non-professional myself. It is the responsibility of the end user to follow the laws of their respective states and so long as they do, I wish them happy picking, professional or otherwise.
A. "I do actually. Thanks. I love lockpicking, but I am not a locksmith. I am not licensed by anyone (and couldn't even get licensed in the state in which I live if I wanted to) and I don't need to be a "security professional" to safely and legally pick locks. What is far more important to me than selling, or even making these lockpicks, is the way I represent myself, my company, and lockpicking in this country. Lying or obfuscating what I am selling or who I am selling to would allow me to sell picks faster and easier, but it would do nothing for the normalization of locksport.
A. "That's not a question. However, allow me to point out a couple of cool things you may not have thought of! 1: Had you not backed my project, I couldn't have sold more in the future! It was only because of the super-funding of my project that I was able to produce additional stock. 2: As a Kickstarter backer you get some sweet bonuses, like a 3 lock training kit and all of the instructional material I've been providing, not to mention the follow up bonus of a live uStream session of me answering questions and teaching you how to use your tools. All of that is ONLY for kickstarter backers. Oh, and 3: Free shipping! Thank you, so much, for backing my project when you did. It is because of you that I am able to sell picks now, and I hope I've been able to reward your patience and early adoption with these nice extras.