> They are making a critical mistake here by not letting users pre-order the next batch.
It's possible that we can thank the FTC for this:
The Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC’s) Mail or Telephone Order Rule covers all merchandise ordered by mail, phone, over the internet, or via the fax machine. It stipulates that, if a merchant does not promise a specific delivery time, the merchandise ordered must be delivered within 30 days of the merchant’s receipt of the order (or the date merchandise is charged to your credit card). If the company is unable to ship within the promised time, the company must give the buyer the choice of agreeing to the delay or canceling the order and receiving a prompt refund. However, if you are applying for credit to pay for your purchase and a company doesn't promise a shipping time, the company has 50 days to ship after receiving your order.
In other words, in the United States, it is not legal to take pre-orders, and incur a delay, without offering customers their money back. So 100,000 pre-orders could come in, and in case of a delay -- since they are forced to offer a refund -- they could lose, potentially, all of their funding.
Imagine ordering parts for 100,000 boards and having 50% of your customers take their money and run, in case of a delay. That's a fairly unmanageable risk.
>Imagine ordering parts for 100,000 boards and having 50% of your customers take their money and run, in case of a delay. That's a fairly unmanageable risk.
Well assuming they're planning to produce another batch, they're already incurring some risk anyway. Allocating units out of that batch as pre-orders doesn't cost them anything, and probably improves overall sales.
It's possible that we can thank the FTC for this:
The Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC’s) Mail or Telephone Order Rule covers all merchandise ordered by mail, phone, over the internet, or via the fax machine. It stipulates that, if a merchant does not promise a specific delivery time, the merchandise ordered must be delivered within 30 days of the merchant’s receipt of the order (or the date merchandise is charged to your credit card). If the company is unable to ship within the promised time, the company must give the buyer the choice of agreeing to the delay or canceling the order and receiving a prompt refund. However, if you are applying for credit to pay for your purchase and a company doesn't promise a shipping time, the company has 50 days to ship after receiving your order.
http://www.hcs.harvard.edu/~scas/wp/wordpress/?page_id=24
In other words, in the United States, it is not legal to take pre-orders, and incur a delay, without offering customers their money back. So 100,000 pre-orders could come in, and in case of a delay -- since they are forced to offer a refund -- they could lose, potentially, all of their funding.
Imagine ordering parts for 100,000 boards and having 50% of your customers take their money and run, in case of a delay. That's a fairly unmanageable risk.