Permaculture Playing Cards Kickstarter

I took out the deal at amazon where you could get 12 for half price.

There was a bunch of weird stuff happening because other people were also selling the cards and amazon kept saying "there are only 4 decks left" when, in reality, they have 2000 decks there at amazon. But if it is a different seller, then that seller isn't offering the 12-deck thing, so amazon then does not offer it.

Further, I don't like the idea of selling the cards for less than the kickstarter price. And it seems that other people don't care about that. I don't know if they bought a case or if they bought a brick. But eventually they will run out.

Plus, two of the case buyers have behaved inappropriately to alexander. This is unacceptable.

In the future, I think I will be far more cautious about who i sell in bulk to. Lesson learned.

In order to share the gorgeous poster, infect more brains and give me something to offer locally I did this: (photo attached vs embedded)

I'm lending it forward for work party decor and other free community events. I'll see what response I get.

I see it clipped onto a fence but I'm hoping the straps and buckles make it versatile and easy to put up with whatever is available. I'm sure I'll have other strap ideas after I see how it works out. I thought of this as soon as I signed up for the kickstarter and it's taken a little time to finish but just today I got the straps sewn on and I'll email our local permaculture list with the offer later tonight.

Is that done with some sort of jumbo laminator?

Yes took it to local blueprint shop and they used double weight lamination...pretty sure he said 40 mil.

Neat!

I'm looking forward to the response!

Just got mine yesterday - they are beautiful!!!

I don't know how to play cards but my friend is an avid poker player - I bought them for her. I figure this will be a great way to introduce permaculture to people who have never heard of it.

I love the cards! It is easier to share these with others than the podcasts. Just to get one person thinking about one card like Dean Pain's energy from compost. Who would have thought that dead branches could be so useful? Fun to share with others. Still get some responses that are negative, but they are fun to read, consider and share with anyone and everyone I can find who will listen.

I dropped the price at amazon to $14.95 per deck for a while. Plus, for those people that can read this - for the next couple of days, I made a code available to take $5 more off.


So here is the regular link to the cards at amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00GOIXT3M/rs12-20



This code is good through monday:

permies9

Through Fishpond I just submitted a product finder request. If they can stock the cards that will be much easier to buy them here in NZ. Don't know whether that's the best thing to do but worth a try, I thought.

I just (and finally) bought mine! Thanks, Paul, that's a great deal!

No matter how many decks you want to buy, the promo code gives you always $5 discount, is this correct? Anyway, in my case Amazon charges over $20 for S&H, so I will just ask a friend in US to buy and send it over to me.

Sorry, but I can't see where one applies the code...

Ypou apply the code at checkout, one step before finalizing your order

I would also love to buy these, but don't want to pay $20+ for shipping to Canada...

Paul I think you should really consider putting these up for sale some place where internationals can purchase them with reasonable shipping prices. I know I would buy more than one deck.

Sue Rine wrote:Through Fishpond I just submitted a product finder request. If they can stock the cards that will be much easier to buy them here in NZ. Don't know whether that's the best thing to do but worth a try, I thought.

Fishpond?

I know that I spend about four months trying to get the cards set up for international purchase. In the end, I jumped through heaps of hoops to be told that it cannot be done.

And then I see that some people from other countries have purchased it.

I am as confused as ever.

Richard Gorny wrote:No matter how many decks you want to buy, the promo code gives you always $5 discount, is this correct?

Somebody else mentioned that it is $5 off the order and not $5 off per deck. Which is confusing because there is a check box for "limit 1" and it is unchecked. Maybe I should have set this up for 33% off?

Anyway, in my case Amazon charges over $20 for S&H, so I will just ask a friend in US to buy and send it over to me.

I am surprised that international stuff works at all.

Simon Johnson wrote:I would also love to buy these, but don't want to pay $20+ for shipping to Canada...

Paul I think you should really consider putting these up for sale some place where internationals can purchase them with reasonable shipping prices. I know I would buy more than one deck.

When the cards were first available, I was selling cases to folks I thought would resell them all over the world in the way they thought was "best". And instead, a lot of those people just turned around and competed with me on amazon.

I was kinda hoping that somebody with massive sales and marketing skills would get rich selling the cards and I would focus on creating new stuff. Instead, I am spending way too much time trying to learn all the complexities of selling stuff on amazon.

We tried to sell them ourselves, but if we want to ship it to canada, we have to wait in line at the post office and fill out a customs form and then pay some huge amount for shipping.

Well thanks for trying Paul. I will do some more searching and see what I can come up with.

Paul, Fishpond is like Amazon but, I think only here in NZ. And I presume the name is also a nod to Amazon. I just bought a book recently. So I placed the order, prices include shipping. The book was Seed to Seed and was NZ$26. Then they ship from wherever the book is held. This time it was the US but I'm pretty sure it can be from other places too.
The link I sent to Fishpond was to the cards on Amazon but maybe I could send a link direct to you? Would that be better from your point of view?

Sue Rine wrote:Paul, Fishpond is like Amazon but, I think only here in NZ. And I presume the name is also a nod to Amazon. I just bought a book recently. So I placed the order, prices include shipping. The book was Seed to Seed and was NZ$26. Then they ship from wherever the book is held. This time it was the US but I'm pretty sure it can be from other places too.
The link I sent to Fishpond was to the cards on Amazon but maybe I could send a link direct to you? Would that be better from your point of view?

When sending a package outside the US, it is $61 for 12 decks. And one of those times it had all sorts of customs crazy also. If it works with amazon, go that route. If it doesn't then we can send something out of here - it's just bizarrely expensive.

ok, I'll wait and see what Fishpond comes up with.

I just got my playing cards. They look amazing. I can't wait to dig into the details and find that needle (nice touch!).

Simon Johnson wrote:I would also love to buy these, but don't want to pay $20+ for shipping to Canada...

Paul I think you should really consider putting these up for sale some place where internationals can purchase them with reasonable shipping prices. I know I would buy more than one deck.

I am in Canada. I just got them from Amazon.com. $7.57 shipping incl. duties etc. $5 off coupon (via Permaculture Voices on Twitter I think) and shipping was down to $2.57. I can't complain either way I think!

So an email arrived from Fishpond which said....product unavailable. Awww. They'll email again if it becomes available.

Amazon sends me an email every time the product is shipped. Most are in the US, but there have been some for all over the world. I'm not sure how it happened. Amazon told me that the cards are not allowed to be shipped outside of the US because it is a "game". I spent months trying to get it reclassified as a book (because books can be shipped outside the US), but that didn't work out.

paul wheaton wrote:Amazon sends me an email every time the product is shipped. Most are in the US, but there have been some for all over the world. I'm not sure how it happened. Amazon told me that the cards are not allowed to be shipped outside of the US because it is a "game". I spent months trying to get it reclassified as a book (because books can be shipped outside the US), but that didn't work out.

Odd. It ships to Canada just fine. I also tried with an European address to see if I can send it as a Christmas present later and it didn't say anything about being restricted.

Truely love the cards by the way. I had time to read a few last night and this morning. Great design and information. Still looking for that damn needle though

You are going to kick yourself when you find the needle.

Have you found any of the hidden names?

paul wheaton wrote:You are going to kick yourself when you find the needle.

Have you found any of the hidden names?

A few names yes. Haven't counted them yet though.
That damn needle! lol
Just for that needle I am going to buy some as Christmas presents for sure.

I created a cheat sheet a long time ago. I was going to put it on scubbly for $3. I just never did.

paul wheaton wrote:I created a cheat sheet a long time ago. I was going to put it on scubbly for $3. I just never did.

I almost sent you 3 bucks but I finally found it! 2nd last card I read of course. I was beginning to doubt myself after scanning every card in detail and nothing! And it's not even tough to find!
Neat idea though. Thanks for adding that.

If there was 2000 left in february how many are left now?

Eivind Bjoerkavaag wrote:If there was 2000 left in february how many are left now?

About 800.

So I'm faced with printing more ($$$) or just saying what we sold is the end of it.

Josey Hains wrote:

Simon Johnson wrote:I would also love to buy these, but don't want to pay $20+ for shipping to Canada...

Paul I think you should really consider putting these up for sale some place where internationals can purchase them with reasonable shipping prices. I know I would buy more than one deck.

I am in Canada. I just got them from Amazon.com. $7.57 shipping incl. duties etc. $5 off coupon (via Permaculture Voices on Twitter I think) and shipping was down to $2.57. I can't complain either way I think!

That is a sweet deal!! I just went back to amazon.com and put in an order. They charged me $12 shipping this time. At least they are shipping them. I have not been able to purchase things from amazon.com before, so this is a slight improvement. I looked into ordering a bunch, but then the duties fee went way up, so I just went with one deck.

The important thing here is, I am getting me some sweet ass playing cards!!

And now Fishpond have the cards available ...at NZ$34.95! Yikes...that includes shipping. Aaalmost ok, at a pinch, but for more than one, there's no reduction in shipping, so 12 decks are around $419!!! Woah, I guess they're not stocking stuffers or giveaways to wwoofers. That's a lot of permaculture books right there. Buying direct from Amazon is about NZ$200 for 12 packs...still too much. So, I guess I'll just be admiring from afar.

MakeItMissoula just posted Paul's new blog about the Permaculture Playing cards.

You can read it here!

So excited! I just ordered mine! I love what Stefan Johnson wrote on the Facebook post (mentioned above): "My wife and I are working on a game based on association. The idea is to pass out 7 cards to each player, place the deck in the middle, and show the top card face up next to the deck. The person to the right of the dealer starts and has to play a card that relates to the permaculture value of the card. For example, if the card that is face up is Wind & Berms (5 of Diamonds) then the player might play Hugelkultur (Ace of Clubs) because it is often built into a smaller berm style system. These types of associations need to be explained as you lay the card down. Saying "because it's also part of permaculture" is not allowed... one must try to be detailed in why the two associate. If the player does not have a card they can associate, they may opt to play the traditional "match face or suit" but they must still draw after playing if they go this route. If they can't even match face or suit, they must draw and play no card, passing to the next player in turn. The person who plays the last card in their hand wins."

Freakin' Awesome Idea! I hope to get some soon.

Fun! Found the needle and the names on the electronic copy of the cards! Now I have them wherever I am with my kindle. Easier to read, share, enjoy! Yay!