• BaroqueInMind@lemmy.ml
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    1 year ago

    After all the scandals with pre-orders and the high quantity of disappointments almost every single time they are offered, regardless of whatever the product may be, why do people still pre order shit in 2023? It incentivizes mediocrity.

    • Jeff@social.rights.ninja
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      1 year ago

      @tookmyname @BaroqueInMind

      I think there’s still a place for certain types of pre-orders.

      There are many projects where the production of the product requires an upfront cost and a pre-order is needed to cover these.

      I have pro-ordered many a small batch electronics device and have had no issues. However, in these cases the design of the device is already complete and the features/specs all known in advance.

      The same goes for all the books I’ve pre-ordered from indie publishers, for the same reason, the book is already finished but production is too expensive for a small publisher to cover without pre-sales.

      The issues come when pre-ordering something that _isn’t_ complete, especially if it’s working on an as-of-yet unsolved problem. Frankly, I wish that platforms like kickstarter would have a dedicated section for “production cost” pre-orders that had a different sales agreement and some vetting to ensure that products got delivered and were as advertised.