For brands
Pre-sell the run
before you cut it.
Post a design with a backer goal and a deadline. Fans pay a deposit to back it. Hit the goal and production capital lands in your account so you can start the run — miss it and every backer is refunded automatically. You owe nothing.
Founding Brand
Graded is free for every brand during early access. The first 25 brands to fund a campaign keep it that way permanently — unlimited designs, featured placement, and priority support, free forever, even after paid plans launch. The counter starts at funding, not signup.
The old way
Guess. Front the money. Hope.
Likes don’t tell you a design will sell. The only way to find out used to be committing your own money to a production run and waiting — and if you were wrong, you ate the stock.
A Graded campaign flips the order. Backers commit real money first. You only produce a run that’s already sold — and the deposits fund it.
How a campaign works
- 1
Post a design, set a goal and a deadline
Upload photos, set a pre-order price and a backer goal, and pick a campaign length — 7, 14, or 30 days. Nothing goes into production yet.
- 2
Fans back it with real deposits
Backers pay a deposit the moment they back — not a like, not a waitlist signup. Your watchers and followers are notified when the campaign opens.
- 3
Goal hit — production capital releases
When your campaign funds, Graded releases an upfront tranche (30–75% of total funds, based on your delivery history) to your connected bank account. Act on the supplier quote now, not weeks from now.
- 4
Ship, then collect the rest
You declare a ship window up front — 30, 45, 60 or 90 days. Mark the order shipped with tracking, and after the 10-day backer dispute window closes, the remainder lands in your account.
And if the goal isn’t hit?
Every backer is refunded in full, automatically. You pay nothing, you produce nothing, and you just learned — with real money, not likes — that the design needs work before a run. That answer used to cost a production run.
Why not…
The honest comparison
Kickstarter?
The all-or-nothing mechanic is the same — but Kickstarter holds 100% of funds until roughly three weeks after your campaign closes. On Graded, the upfront tranche releases when you fund, so a supplier quote with a two-week window is still alive when the money arrives. Fashion also underperforms on Kickstarter (~30% success rate vs ~42% platform-wide); here it’s the whole platform.
A Shopify pre-order app?
You can promise refunds on your own store — but the apps we’ve surveyed don’t escrow anything. Refunds on a missed goal are manual and at your discretion, which your backers know. Graded enforces the refund at the platform level, so backers commit with confidence they won’t extend to a DIY setup.
Just posting it on Instagram?
Your followers may never see the post — and a comment saying “need this” isn’t a paid deposit. Keep Instagram for reach; use the campaign link as the place where interest becomes committed money.
What it costs
8% on backers you bring. 18% on backers we bring you. A$0 when you don’t fund.
Applying is free. Posting a design is free. Running a campaign is free. Fees apply only when a campaign funds, and they’re split by who brought each backer: 8% on backers who arrive through your own links and audience, 18% on backers Graded’s network delivers — the discovery feed, drop emails, push notifications. Unknown arrivals count as yours, at the lower rate.
On your own audience we’re at Kickstarter’s ~8% — but with capital on funding instead of weeks after close, and platform-enforced backer protection. The 18% only ever applies to demand we can prove we brought you.
Full pricing details →Built on delivery history
Start at A$3,000. Grow to uncapped.
New brands start with a A$3,000 campaign cap and a 30% upfront tranche. Every campaign you deliver raises both — two deliveries unlocks A$25,000 and 60% upfront; five unlocks uncapped campaigns at 75%. It’s a trust ramp, not a ceiling.
Already have a track record outside Graded? You can apply for a verified starting cap above the default — details on the how-it-works page.
Your next drop, already paid for.
Graded is curated — new brands come in through a short application, not open signup. Tell us what you make and we’ll get back to you within a few days.