I agree with Anigbrowl. You get what you pay for. If you buy cheap headsets or use ones that come default with your devices, you should in all seriousness expect a pretty low life span even if it exceeds that expectation.

Pay $100-ish and get a quality pair. I've had the same one for about 5, maybe 6 years, still works flawlessly.

As for your second question, always worth trying Kickstarter if you think its worth competing.