Hey folks, hope all is well out there in backer land! I've received a lot of shipping related questions over the past week or two and I'd like to use this update to share the answers with the wider Mugsy community. We discuss a lot of these things over the Discord channel in real time but I know that is a subset of all backers. Let's get to it!

What does sort mean and why does it take so long?

We are using Fulfilment By Amazon for shipping. This means that we send boxes to an inbound fulfilment center and they are then distributed through the network to last mile distribution centers. This inbound processing and distribution is all covered by the "Sort" status.

One of the issues with this process is that some fulfilment centers are much slower to process shipments and redistribute them than others. Processing speed can be impacted by many things, including FC inbound totals, region/location, priority and more. Some FC's have inbound processing times of 2-3 weeks before items are ready to move or make it to last mile distributors while others are in and out in 72 hours.

Once sorting is complete the shipment will move into a "Sorted" status.

My Amazon packages get here in two days, why is it not the same for Mugsy?

The use of FBA should not imply any connection to the shipping speeds we are used to when we buy something off of Amazon.com. There is no Prime for Mugsy. We are just using a service they resell. It's a lot like Amazon Web Services, where you can run a database cluster as resource intensive as Netflix's setup or just spin up a tiny DB for working through a tutorial. Amazon is a rocket ship blasting off into space and Mugsy is a tiny little tardigrade trying to grab on to a stabilizing fin. We're gonna get to space but it's a big ol' climb on to the ship and you have to be careful not to burn up while you're holding on.

*Tardigrades in Space! Image courtesy of BuzzFeed Multiplayer.*

Burning up in this case would be losing lots of money. Because of Mugsy's low shipping fees we don't have tons of options to increase shipping speeds. This was a decision made early on and maybe it was the wrong one. We could have greatly increased distribution and delivery speeds but then shipping would be anywhere from $50-100 per unit depending on region. My initial thought was this would scare off most backers and I expected a much easier go of logistics in general. So, a little bit of naivety plus little bit of fear made the call for me. Lesson learned.

Why does Deep Dive show a delivery estimate that is in the past?

The delivery estimate is calculated in my backend when I receive new data from the shipping partners. So when a unit hits an FC, I do some estimating and spit out a date that makes sense with current info. The date is not updated again until there is new information from the shipping partner. So if the box sits at an FC for several days before moving on, the existing date can come and go without updating. The date will update once it hits the next location.

This is obviously not a perfect system at all. I will continue to make adjustments so we can make better estimates using better data in much shorter cycle times.

I see a tracking number but the package hasn't moved. What's the deal?

This one is on me. Our tracking labels and last mile shipments were being created but the pickups were not being scheduled correctly. This was an error with my shipping plan configuration. I worked with UPS and FBA over the last week to hunt down the cause of this issue and it has been resolved.

If you were one of the users with a stagnating tracking number, you will receive new tracking info on Monday or Tuesday. Big thanks to the Discord channel for sharing data with me so I could get this one solved. I could not have done it without their help.

Whats up with Germany?

Germany comes up a lot for worldwide shipments. If your country is in Europe and does not have an Amazon fulfilment center, your package is most likely going to hit Germany first. And Germany loves the details. We did have to send them additional RoHS/Certification paperwork over the last week or so to clear Mugsy for travel. This has been resolved is no longer an issue.

OK, I think that covers most of the questions I've been seeing. If you have one that I did not hit please email me at matt@heymugsy.com and I will get you sorted.

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I'm currently working on a large interactive installation for the day job. I will be there on and off until the wee hours of Monday morning. I might be slow to respond to emails or MIA in general until Monday afternoon.
The Discord channel users are awesome and have started a Secret Santa coffee exchange! I don't know all the details as it's their own creation but you can join the channel to find more info. It's these intangible moments of spontaneous community that have been the biggest surprises for me on this journey. I've said it before and I'll say it again, Mugsy people are the best people.
I'm going to post another update at some point on Tuesday focusing on Software.

Ok, thats all for now! Have a great night and I'll see everyone next week.

Cheers,

-m

Tardigrades in Space!

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