Kickstarter
Shipping & taxes, as promised
Data last checked: · how we verify numbers
Shipping and taxes were never part of the pledge price. Every tier card stated that the pledge price “excludes shipping and applicable sales taxes (VAT, GST, US state taxes, etc.), which will be calculated based on your location and collected in the pledge manager” [official] — nothing was charged at Kickstarter checkout beyond the pledge itself [official FAQ]. What follows are the terms every backer agreed to: the fee table by region, the duty-coverage promise, the destinations that could not be served, and the caveat that fees were estimates. The channels are closed now, but these terms still govern the parcels landing through March 2027.
The fee table, as published
| Region | The Defender | The Guardian | The Collector |
|---|---|---|---|
| UK | £10 | £12 | £20 |
| US | £18 | £20 | £36 |
| Canada | £20 | £22 | £38 |
| EU Member States | £18 | £20 | £36 |
| Rest of Europe | £23 | £25 | £48 |
| Australia & New Zealand | £40 | £45 | £80 |
| Rest of World | £45 | £50 | £100 |
Three footnotes from the official wording: fees exclude sales tax [official]; remote areas may carry surcharges [official]; and add-on weight could push a final fee higher, since the estimate assumed a base pledge [official]. The Collector’s column already includes the cost of both shipments — October 2026 and March 2027 — so no second postage bill was coming [official FAQ].
Duty coverage: Region-Friendly vs due on delivery
| Region | Duties and customs | Sales tax (VAT, GST, state) |
|---|---|---|
| UK | Region-Friendly — covered by the campaign | Calculated and collected in the pledge manager |
| US | Region-Friendly — covered | Calculated and collected in the pledge manager (state-level, by address) |
| Canada | Region-Friendly — covered | Calculated and collected in the pledge manager |
| EU Member States | Region-Friendly — covered; parcels fulfil from inside the EU, and any surprise customs fee is promised back as a refund | Calculated and collected in the pledge manager |
| Rest of Europe | Not included — may be due upon delivery | Calculated and collected in the pledge manager |
| Australia & New Zealand | Not included — may be due upon delivery | Calculated and collected in the pledge manager |
| Rest of World | Not included — may be due upon delivery | May be collected in the pledge manager, or due upon delivery per local requirements |
Rulebook check
“Region-Friendly Shipping” was the campaign’s own label for regions whose customs and duties it covered, “so you can get your game as quickly as possible, with no surprise fees upon delivery” [official]. For the EU it went one step further, telling backers in the campaign comments that goods ship from a fulfilment centre inside the EU — and that if a surprise customs fee appeared anyway, the campaign would refund it [official, campaign comments].
Warning
For the not-covered regions the burden sat with the backer: “These charges are outside of our control and are the responsibility of the backer” [official]. In practice the main exposure was less the duty itself than carrier clearance handling on delivery — budget for it before ordering from these regions again.
The estimates caveat
Warning
The fees were estimates, and the campaign said so twice: they “may change depending on what is happening in the world” [official FAQ], and may “vary depending on your final package, location and shipping conditions at the time of fulfilment” [official graphic]. We found no announcement of any fee change across the 19 campaign updates by our 2026-10-12 check — but the reservation of the right was explicit, and late-announced changes would have applied to parcels not yet dispatched.
Taxes, collected in the pledge manager
The mechanics, restated from the official FAQ: shipping, VAT and applicable sales taxes were calculated by the pledge manager from the final order, the delivery address and local tax rates, and collected there — before dispatch, not during the campaign [official FAQ]. The reason given: calculating after the campaign yields accurate fees for the exact order and address [official FAQ]. For Rest of World destinations, the tax itself could go either way — collected in the pledge manager or due upon delivery, according to local requirements [official].
The not-shipped list
Warning
The campaign named sixteen destinations it would not ship to: Bahrain, Burma, Cuba, Iran, Iraq, North Korea, Kuwait, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Russia, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, UAE, and Crimea together with the covered regions of Ukraine [official]. For regions simply unlisted, the official line was to contact the team and they would try to arrange shipping [official FAQ].
Collector: one fee, two parcels
The Collector’s £280 tier shipped in two waves — the main box (full game plus all Guardian-level upgrades) in October 2026, and the Collector’s Box (metal pawns, Dumbledore’s Army set, Luxury Token Bag, Signed Artist’s Portfolio) in March 2027, because those materials need a longer production run [official FAQ]. The fee table’s Collector column already includes both shipments [official FAQ], and add-on items riding the second wave were to be charged shipping and tax only once [official, campaign comments]. What the single fee does not cover is the doubled exposure: two parcels mean two chances of loss or damage, and two address changes to remember if you move.
Your personalized math
These tables answer “what did everyone agree to” — not “what would my parcel cost”. For the second question, the landed-cost estimator applies the official fees and tax treatment to your region, tier and add-ons: a UK Defender worked out to roughly £81.60 all-in under the official VAT reading, and Australia/NZ carried the widest gap in the table [our estimate]. Where the fees land against the £75 retail price is the subject of the calendar page.
Sources
- Campaign “Shipping and Taxes” graphic (fee table, duty coverage, estimates caveat), re-checked against the original image: kickstarter.com/projects/minalima/defenders-of-hogwarts
- Kickstarter FAQ (pledge-manager collection of fees and taxes; Collector’s fee includes both shipments; unlisted regions; fees may change): kickstarter.com/…/faqs
- Tier cards (pledge price excludes shipping and applicable sales taxes, collected in the pledge manager): kickstarter.com/…/rewards
- Campaign comments (EU fulfilment from inside the EU; refund promise for surprise customs fees; second-shipment items charged shipping/tax once): kickstarter.com/…/comments
- Hive late-pledge page (the same shipping tables as shown to late pledgers): hiveinteractive.net