Support Andy's Bankruptcy Filing Costs

Sigh.

I have to file for Chapter 7 bankruptcy and my funds are extremely limited. I hate doing this, truly, but there really isn't another option available.

TLDR version: I got WAY over-extended on orders for an online store which took up absolutely all my time and now I'm so late on so many orders that customers are bailing or doing chargebacks which has crippled my funds to near zero making it impossible to continue. Only real option is bankruptcy, dang it.

Here's the full story.

I left my last full-time programming job in 2019, shortly after my mother passed away. My brothers and I sold her old house in Lincoln, Massachusetts, and I had enough money to lay low in 2020 and 2021 during the pandemic.

To keep myself occupied and to bring in extra money, I started an online store, Wylderbuilds, selling 3D printed cases for whacky ergonomic computer keyboards. It's a thing. It brought in some extra buffer money, which is fine, but not enough to keep me afloat.

By late 2022, I started seeking other jobs, again in programming and web development. I had some interviews, but nothing panned out. Things weren't dire and I chugged along with the store.

In the late spring of 2023, funds were becoming a real concern and, in a bid to bring in more money, I started selling full builds of the keyboards at Wylderbuilds, meaning you could buy a full, ready-to-go super-amazing ergonomic keyboard with all sorts of customization options. I knew going in that it would mean much, MUCH more work and time and that there was a danger of overcommitting. Each keyboard takes a minimum of a day to put together, once all the pieces are prepped, and some take three or more days. A few took over a week.

It did help bring in more funds, but the store immediately shifted from a side-gig to an all-consuming beast.

By the summer of 2024, my order queue had grown quite long, well over five months. Yet money was still slowly dwindling. I worked up some new products and streamlined some things, but I still fell further behind. I had some better components that helped speed getting builds out a little, but I was still overextended and the new components were more expensive.

The catch-22 of the whole damn mess is that my time was extremely limited as I had to focus on getting the keyboards out. Around 60 hours a week or more has been spent solely on keyboard work, with little time for digging into other work options, other products to sell, or much of anything. It's been a seven-day-a-week slog for two years now.

Don't get me wrong, there were a lot of aspects of the business that I really enjoyed and working with customers and providing them with exactly what they were looking for was mighty gratifying. It was just a LOT of work with tight margins. I've successfully shipped hundreds of orders, but I have several dozen backed up in the queue.

Throughout 2024, I rather desperately sought other development, restaurant, or any work that could help bring in enough funds that I could stop offering builds, but it just never happened. Hundreds of applications led to perhaps five interviews and I simply could not nail down a gig. It was stupefying and awfully dismaying. I did end up getting a bar job, but it's been only a single weekly shift.

Now, I'm so far behind in the keyboard builds that a lot of my customers are bailing. It's wholly understandable and they're within their rights. I have multiple demands for refunds along with several credit-card chargebacks. The writing has been on the wall for a long time that I'd probably have to declare bankruptcy, but now there's just no other option.

There are no funds to cover anything going forward. Not for the bankruptcy fees, for further keyboard materials, for refunds, and not even really for just plain old food and rent.

The bankruptcy and lawyer fees overall are over $2000. I've set the goal a bit higher to cover additional hours, but I've started this GoFundMe in hopes that my old friends, colleagues, and acquaintances might collectively help me to get the bankruptcy filed ASAP. Once it's filed, my funds will stop vanishing and I can regain some foothold. Then, after the three months to process, there'll be some actual relief.

I'd love to say this would be a loan and I'll pay everyone back, but I'm flat out unsure if that's doable. I'm in no position to make any promises.

If you can help at all, even just a coupla bucks, I'd be profoundly grateful.

And if any of you know of any employment options I could look into, that'd be more than welcome. I'm still looking. I'm currently living in Beacon, New York, in the Hudson Valley, but I'm also open to opportunities in NYC, Connecticut, New Jersey, Western Mass, wherever.

Regardless, thanks at least for reading all this and I wish you all the best.

Cheers!

Andy