How to do preorders?
Robert Bohl:
I am (almost certainly) going to do preorders for the ashcan of Misspent Youth, which I am planning to release at Gen Con. How does one go about doing preorders? What do I need to know? What are the snags? How do I track who is owed what without its becoming a nightmare? What's the best way to put the fact that it's available for preorder out there, and how do I make it available?
I mean my simple gut instinct is to create a website, put a paypal button on it and print out all the Paypallings I get as I get them or something. I suspect there are probably better ways to do this, or things to keep in mind.
iago:
Your questions indicate you've already anticipated most of the snags. I'd suggest maintaining a Google Docs Spreadsheet and copying the contact information (and number of copies ordered, if relevant) over into it each time a purchase is made. By having it in Google Docs, it should be pretty easy for you to access that data wherever you are, which can be good if you find yourself at a convention and folks start asking if they can just get it delivered to them in person.
Robert Bohl:
Thanks Fred. The Google Docs idea is a good one.
guildofblades:
Thus far we have used a very informal pre order system. People e-mail us to express interest. We archive the e-mails. When the product is a week or two out from actual release, everyone that expressed interest gets an e-mail and a private purchase link with the pre order deal. They can then follow up on their pre order or not. Over time we've arrived at a fairly constant percentage we can count on following through on paying for the pre order.
The thing about taking payment for an item you intend to "ship" to the customer is there are standards with regards to how quickly you are suppose to ship that item. Failure to do so can put you into hot water several different ways. With possible mail fraud, Paypal and/or your CC company.
Ryan S. Johnson
Guild of Blades Retail Group - http://www.guildofblades.com/retailgroup.php
Guild of Blades Publishing Group - http://www.guildofblades.com
1483 Online - http://www.1483online.com
iago:
Quote from: guildofblades on May 07, 2008, 05:05:26 PM
The thing about taking payment for an item you intend to "ship" to the customer is there are standards with regards to how quickly you are suppose to ship that item. Failure to do so can put you into hot water several different ways. With possible mail fraud, Paypal and/or your CC company.
Do you have any specifics on that? And what if the timeframe is made explicit to the consumer at the time of purchase?
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