• Mistic@lemmy.world
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      2 days ago

      Pre-ordering physical goods is fine, especially if you expect a price hike and supply limitations after launch. I wouldn’t, but I can see how it would make sense.

      It’s the digital goods that make no goddamn sense to buy before they’re out. They’re not limited in supply, and their return window is often too small.

        • Mistic@lemmy.world
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          21 hours ago

          Wasn’t it a kickstarter product? I wouldn’t consider venture a pre-order, tbf.

          Pre-orders are reservations with pre-payment.

          Crowdfunding is, well, funding. You aren’t buying a product. You’re funding it, which comes with additional risks and benefits.

          Of course, there’s always a possibility that a product is being funded using pre-orders, which is financially irresponsible (norm varies from industry to industry). But you must be a moron to pre-order a product from a startup you know nothing about and expect not to get scammed. Outright buying their product would be risky enough.

          Take housing market. You’re pretty much always either pre-ordering or buying second-hand.

      • Bakkoda@sh.itjust.works
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        2 days ago

        As long as i can chargeback on my credit card I have no problems preordering (couple months out at most though, lol at people doing long term pre orders) I have no problem. Digital goods can fuck right on off. So many slimy tactics.

      • Appoxo@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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        2 days ago

        Meh.
        Yes, for already announced limited runs of physical items that you know the quality off (say merch from artists) it’s more fine than for mainly digital goods.
        And, I have to agree, such a broad blanket statement is not really applicable to every type of purchase or life situation.

        To be fully transparent: Even I participated in pre-orders. Off the top I can only remember some artist merch items like CDs I pre-heard some tracks and know what to expect from it and the Kickstarter for the uGreen NAS. But even for the uGreen NAS I knew the specs, price and if It’s compatible with what I want to do before committing.
        For any other purchase I waited patiently.

    • SuperSaiyanSwag@lemmy.zip
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      2 days ago

      I never pre-order, and I am not advocating for pre-ordering, but just curious, can’t the item just be returned if the customer is not satisfied?

    • Arcane2077@sh.itjust.works
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      2 days ago

      Do you even know why you’re saying that? Physical goods that need to be manufactured and delivered are literally exactly what you should be pre-ordering

      • Ulrich@feddit.org
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        1 day ago

        Physical goods are no different in that when you pre-order something you really have no idea what you’re getting. You’re counting on the reputation of the company to deliver on their claims. Which is often a bad idea.

      • ulterno@programming.dev
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        1 day ago

        It would make a lot of sense to the company trying to decide how large their production run should be.

        For the customer, it only really makes sense if they are getting something out of it, like immunity to possible price hikes at launch.

        I don’t pre-order, but then, I am a late stage buyer, so it doesn’t really apply to me.