Backorder functionality
08-17-2020, 07:02 AM
A backorder without money down doesn't really indicate anything. There have been youtube videos where somebody scratch-built something, it went viral, thousands of people commented "I would so buy that" and forgot about it, and then when they test-marketed a batch they couldn't sell 10. Or people can intentionally taint the data. A single troll simulates 100,000 organic-looking clicks on the backorder button, but, is it reliable data? Can they simulate it accurately enough? Practically speaking, things going viral can have exactly the same effect.
A backorder *with* money down can be a real problem. You start production, and by then they've changed their minds and want a full refund. You have units you can only hope to sell, and not enough money left after production to issue refunds. You try to keep prices as low as possible? Then you don't have extra money. Meanwhile they're going nuts, posting slag all over the internet, filing police reports, and filing disputes with your payment processor.
What percentage of orders can you afford to have go bad before it affects your company's reputation? As the preorder delay and the uncertainty in the time frame increase, the percentage of dissatisfied customers just keeps going up. It doesn't matter if they agreed to the terms, you have to know better for them what they're really going to do.
Pine64 has recently been through this with the Coronavirus delays, and it looks like short, definite preorder periods are a requisite for safety.
A backorder *with* money down can be a real problem. You start production, and by then they've changed their minds and want a full refund. You have units you can only hope to sell, and not enough money left after production to issue refunds. You try to keep prices as low as possible? Then you don't have extra money. Meanwhile they're going nuts, posting slag all over the internet, filing police reports, and filing disputes with your payment processor.
What percentage of orders can you afford to have go bad before it affects your company's reputation? As the preorder delay and the uncertainty in the time frame increase, the percentage of dissatisfied customers just keeps going up. It doesn't matter if they agreed to the terms, you have to know better for them what they're really going to do.
Pine64 has recently been through this with the Coronavirus delays, and it looks like short, definite preorder periods are a requisite for safety.