Photo via Kickstarter/Coolest Cooler
Photo via Kickstarter/Coolest Cooler

Coolest Coolers will be shutting down direct sales through its site to focus on finishing delivery of coolers to Kickstarter backers.

“We are planning to stop selling from Coolest.com as of the end of the day Wednesday and will divert any orders to the Amazon page, as they need to sell through the inventory they have, and we will continue to focus on making and shipping the Coolest to Kickstarter people,” a Coolest spokeswoman told us on the phone.

Per the Coolest rep, the Amazon Launchpad deal was inked last summer for a set number of coolers, which have already been delivered to Amazon.

To date, Coolest told us that the company has “paid for, made and shipped 35,000” coolers to Kickstarter backers, leaving about 25,000 to go.

“We’ve paid upfront for half of the costs for the last 25,000 backers, but in order to get them to backers, we need to keep going as a business,” the rep told us.

Photo via Amazon/ Coolest Cooler
Photo via Amazon/ Coolest Cooler

Several Kickstarter backers have been active online, even starting a petition at change.org, showing their frustration with the Coolest’s announcements about delays and selling coolers through Amazon.

The Coolest says that the negative comments are hurting the company’s ability to deliver.

The reviews on Amazon for the Coolest have included a large number of one-star reviews, to date 28 precent, while 52 percent have posted five stars.

Coolest’s latest blog update was posted yesterday by founder Ryan Grepper, who continued to apologize for the delay, explained the Amazon Launchpad deal, and reiterated that the remaining Coolest Coolers for Kickstarter backers are expected to ship by next spring.

As of now, the Coolest tells us that they are close to resolving the motor issue Grepper cited as the latest delay last week.

“The bigger issue is that we need to be able to fund the final production and shipping,” the Coolest rep said. “The initial cost to set up manufacturing of uniquely shaped product are very, very high. That’s why we needed to sell some at full price to fund final production.”

Coolest told us that they are seeking out other funding options, but will “need to continue to make sales, or we’re going to be in a very difficult position.”

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