At the moment, nearly 90% of all Flippers ordered on Kickstarter have been sent to backers. Most of these parcels are already delivered, and some are still on the way — either in transit warehouses, at the packing stage, or under customs clearance. But they will be delivered to the backers in the nearest future! These backers have already received the tracking numbers of their parcels.

Map legend

Shipped (orange) — countries for which parcels have been handed over to a logistics company. Those are either being packed, on their way, under customs clearance or have already been delivered.

Preparing (dark grey) — countries for which devices are still being prepared. The devices are produced and under processing for further dispatch to the logistics partner. Those will be shipped in July.

We have shipped 100% of orders to all the countries on the map above marked in orange. At the time of writing, some of the parcels to these countries are still on the way but already processed, have a tracking number, and will be delivered very soon.

At the same time, there remains a large number of backers who have not yet received the device and we still have a lot of work to do. In this update, we will talk about the process of delivery and production, as well as our plans for the future.

Shipping Methods

We are often asked why is delivery divided by country. Many backers feel it's unfair that we don't send parcels in order of backer number, they say "My backer number is 457, so I have to be under the same number in the shipping queue." We understand these feelings.

Unfortunately, logistics is much more complicated than it seems. Since we only operate legally, we need to prepare import documents for each individual country to make sure parcels get released by customs. At the same time, there are several different methods of shipping, and, depending on the chosen process, cargo clearance procedures are different.

Basically, shipping methods are divided into two types: bulk cargo shipping and individual parcel shipping.

Bulk delivery

In the terminology of logistics companies, bulk cargo shipping is called Direct Injection. This is when all parcels are packed into one large container that then goes to the country of destination. Upon arrival to the destination country, all orders in the shipment pass the customs clearance simultaneously — this significantly simplifies the clearance process.

Once customs releases the cargo, the container is opened and individual parcels are handed over to local couriers for the last mile delivery, without crossing borders and being delayed due to customs clearance. However, this type of shipping can only be used when there are enough orders for one country to meet the logistics company's requirements. That's why it was important for us to accumulate orders into one large shipment.

Bulk cargo shipping is the most efficient and safest delivery method, as it allows to move orders cheaper and faster, as well as using priority delivery channels that include insurance and support along the way. We used this method for all countries with enough order quantities: US/CA/AU/UK/EU/RU, which is basically 90% of all orders.

Individual parcels

Individual parcel shipping, or Direct to Customer in logistics language, is when the orders are packed in Hong Kong, address labels are placed on them, and sent directly to the recipient. In this case, each individual parcel crosses the border and goes through customs clearance, so much more paperwork is involved.

This method takes more time, is less reliable, and is more expensive. It takes more time for customs clearance and for delivery in general. That is why we've put it at the back of the queue.

We understand how frustrating it is to be at the very end of the line. But delivering so many parcels is a challenging task and this way we tried to minimize risks and work out reliable delivery channels.

Shipping to Rest of the World countries

Shipments to RoW countries are scheduled for this month. By the end of July, we hope to ship all 100% of Kickstarter orders. Very soon you will receive a tracking number on the e-mail you placed your order with.

Soon the shipping addresses will be locked, so please check your shipping address here and let us know if it needs to be changed as soon as possible: https://flipperzero.backerkit.com/

Thank you!

Thank you all for your trust and your patience. The Flipper Zero project was made possible thanks to you and your support! And this is just the beginning — soon we will share with you our new products and development plans. This is gonna be huge.