Address locking - final notice!
over 1 year ago – Wed, Nov 09, 2022 at 06:02:59 PM

Hello everyone, I hope you're doing well! I have some more updates on addresses and the timeline below

Address locking:

I have sent out the final notice, so addresses will automatically lock in 2 days! You should hopefully have received a notice email where you can still change your shipping address if you need to, but if you have any issues please send me an email at [email protected]!

Current timeline:

For the current timeline, it's still quite similar to in my previous update! 

• UK shipment ETA: 15-NOV (+ ~2 weeks for port and customs clearance)
• US Shipment ETA: 29-OCT (+ ~2 weeks for port and customs clearance)

The freight forwarder has been told the US shipment will arrive to port today (fingers crossed!), so it ended up being a few days after the estimate! I will keep checking in, if it doesn't arrive today it should be early next week. 

After the shipment arrives to port it will need a few weeks to be trucked to the warehouse! Please note that the port arrival date is not the date that the bags will be shipped out to customers, as it still needs to arrive to the warehouse, go through quality check, then be individually packaged to be shipped to you!

Once they arrive at the warehouse quality checking will begin, I'm not sure how long it'll take yet as I have to decide whether we'll do a full check or a spot check,  but I'm in discussion with the warehouse and we'll hopefully have a timeframe soon!

For the UK, I'm in the middle of switching warehouses! Hopefully this won't extend the timeline but I'll let you know if there are any changes. The bags are still on the way (the have a different ocean freight route to the US shipment) but on track for the above estimate.

Other changes:

One more change that I've made to the project is deciding to not go ahead with the stretch goal extra of custom boxes, unfortunately I couldn't get these organised whilst keeping the timeline. Hopefully I'll be able to add boxes next time but I will have to quality check them in advance instead of having them as a stretch goal, I'm really sorry for this!

Thank you again for your patience and support with this Kickstarter! I hope you'll all have your manta bags soon!(: If you have any questions, please email me at [email protected]!

More timeline updates!
over 1 year ago – Thu, Oct 13, 2022 at 08:19:19 PM

Hello everyone, I have some updates on the new timeline!

New timeline:

I have been keeping in contact with my freight forwarders, we had a bit of trouble finding a route out of the country from the manufacturer's factory but we figured it out and both shipments are on the way!

Here are the current predicted arrival times:

UK shipment ETA: 15-NOV (+ ~2 weeks for port and customs clearance)

US Shipment ETA: 29-OCT (+ ~2 weeks for port and customs clearance)

All US packages will be shipped from the US shipment, everywhere else is sent from the UK shipment (including Mexico and Canada)!

Once they arrive they need to be barcoded, quality checked and packed. My aim is to have them shipped out by Christmas, but these things can definitely be unpredictable and sometimes the fulfilment process can take a month or two longer than expected. I will post another update once the bags are in the receiving country!

Manta Ray bag straps:

Thank you to everyone who reached out regarding the longer bag straps! I am going through the list and will be responding to everyone & adding you to a list for the manufacturer.

Again please note that we'll be waiting for the new straps to arrive before shipping the bags, so they may not be shipped until the New Year depending on transit and production times!

If you have any questions please email [email protected]! 

Thank you so much for the support, I can’t wait for everyone to receive their bags(:

Shipping + strap length update!
over 1 year ago – Thu, Sep 01, 2022 at 11:29:54 PM

Hello everyone, I've had a bit more information to pass on! 

Unfortunately my freight forwarder had some personal news so I was unable to contact him for a few weeks. He is now back at work and the shipment is underway - I apologise again for the extra delay! I asked yesterday for an updated estimate delivery time but I haven't had a response yet, so I will post a Kickstarter update comment when I find that out. The bags are shipping to the UK and the US in two separate shipments, and the orders will be sent from there.

For the bag straps, I will be paying extra to get some 150cm straps made! Currently, the backpack straps are 100cm and the shoulder strap is 130cm. These straps will be free for those who want them, but as they will be shipped with your bag it may delay your bag shipment since the straps still need to be made and shipped to me. If you are okay with your bag shipping a little later and would like the 150cm strap, please send an email to [email protected] with the subject line of 'Manta Ray bag strap'. 

For pouches, pins + socks I wanted to mention again that they will all be shipped at the same time as the bags. This is just to keep all the orders together due to the software I'm using!

Thank you again, I think that's everything but please let me know if you have any questions!

Production complete + bag strap update!
almost 2 years ago – Sat, Jul 23, 2022 at 11:46:45 PM

Hello everyone!

Good news - the bags have finally finished production! We're currently splitting the colours up and packing them onto pallets to be shipped to my UK and US shipping companies. Freight times are quite inconsistent at the moment, but it should take around 1 - 2 months (fingers crossed closer to one). I'll leave some photos of the finished bags below!

Regarding the bag straps, I have spoken more with the manufacturer and was told today that the shoulder strap is longer than I had thought when I posted the last update, 130cm instead of 100cm. Each bag will come with 100cm backpack straps and a 130cm shoulder/crossbody strap. This is more in line with other projects I have seen which is a relief, but I will still be checking in with those who have emailed me regarding the strap length to make sure everyone is comfortable with this or if it needs further resolution!

For fulfillment, all orders will be shipped in the same time frame, including pin only orders. This will help keep everything together instead of moving over small batches of orders to my shipping company. I will be locking shipping addresses in 2 weeks to prepare for the fulfillment process. 

• If you think you may be moving address within the shipping timeframe please let me know so I can put the order on hold until we have a specific fulfillment date! 
• If you would like to change your address you can do this by accessing the survey you used to fill in your pledge choices and address.

If you have any questions or concerns, please reach out to me at [email protected]. I will be going through existing emails over the next few days, so please keep an eye out if you haven't received a reply already!

Thank you again for the support, I'm so excited for you all to get your manta ray friends!

Timeline update + sample changes!
almost 2 years ago – Wed, Jun 22, 2022 at 09:30:02 PM

Hello everyone! Here are some more updates on the timeline& changes! I will be leaving addresses unlocked until we're closer to the shipping date, if you would like to change the shipping address you can do it in your survey! 

Timeline update

We had a few more delays with securing materials for the bags and deciding colours (more info below) but I received an updated estimate today - they should be ready for sea shipping by July 10th! 

Sea freight has fluctuated a lot this year so I'll have to wait until closer to the time for the freight forwarder to give me an accurate estimate, but it's usually around 1 - 2 months. I have had shipments take 5-6 months before though when ports are very congested, hopefully we won't have that issue but I just want to add it in as a possibility! 

Sample changes

A few more changes have been made to the bags:

Strap length

Unfortunately there was a communication error and the straps are a different length than mentioned on the Kickstarter page. The new backpack straps are 100cm and the crossbody strap is 130cm. If this is an issue for you please let me know at [email protected]!

Colour changes

We ended up having to change the colours a little, they're very close to the original colours so it shouldn't be a problem but I wanted to update you all on it! The white is the biggest difference, the sample was a little more 'cream' than the final colour.

If you have any questions please email me at [email protected]!

Thank you so much for your patience and support,

Leikya