2024 has already been a wild ride for Ashton Dickison.
After spending months designing an Ita-bag — a bag that displays pins in a front pouch— she finally got two samples in January. She liked the samples so much she started a 45-day Kickstarter campaign with an $8,000 fundraising target.
“It was a 45-day Kickstarter because I was afraid I wouldn't hit my goal,” Dickison said.
She was wrong.
The satchels, now in six designs, quickly shot off and a TikTok post about the bags went viral. In 45 days, Dickison had 770 backers with nearly $90,000 in pledges.
What makes these satchels special
The Convertible Travelers Satchel comes with a removeable pin insert to display products. The bags are made of vegan leather with gold hardware, and each bag has a matching coin pouch that doubles as a dice bag for board gamers.
There are five designs to choose from. The Mycologist features mushrooms and foliage. The Botanist features sunflowers. The Mythologist's satchel features dragon tails. The Confectioner's satchel is pink with sprinkles. And the Oceanologist satchel is purple and features deep sea creatures.
Each bag measures about 14 inches by 11 inches, and is about 4 inches deep. Dickison said many customers like that the bag is big enough to fit a laptop or large tablet.
“People who play [Dungeons & Dragons] and stuff like that are really liking it because the pouch that comes with it is also a dice bag,” Dickison said.
What comes next for the creator
The Kickstarter ended on Feb. 19. Now, Dickison plays catch up.
Her first plan is to order a sample of the four remaining bags, so she will have a physical bag for each design. Those should arrive at some point in March, she said. She will use the samples to take photos of each bag to continue sales on her Etsy page.
As soon as she receives the Kickstarter funding, she will place a near-$40,000 order for about 800 bags. She's hopeful those bags should arrive by August.
Fulfilling the order doesn't come cheap. To ship the 800 bags to her is about $9,000. To ship those bags to paying customers it will cost about $15,000. Dickison still has to buy some extra materials, which she expects to cost about $1,000, and she has to pay the artist who worked on the bags.
The takeaway for the designer
Given her expenses, how much money did Dickison make on the Kickstarter?
“As far as how much I made — It's not as much as I think people think,” Dickison said, with a laugh.
Crowdfunding the Ita-bag's launch was still an experience she treasured.
“I just make pins,” Dickison said. “I started out in January 2020. I've had my Etsy page for three years now. I just never really imagined anything like this going as big as it did.”
The success of the satchels has affected her outlook on business, she said.
“If I can do something like this and it is successful then maybe I can stop beating myself up about things that I don't think will be successful,” Dickison said.
