In this guide 6 sections
Take pre orders only after five rules are settled. Those rules cover deposit or full payment, how to share short supply, what happens when the supplier slips, cancel and refund terms, and a waitlist. Without them, a hyped release brings angry emails. With them, a pre order sells copies you do not yet hold.
Decide what a pre order is for
A pre order pays off when demand is known and supply is tight. A convention exclusive, a crowdfunded game reaching retail after pledge fulfilment, or sealed booster boxes from a new card set all qualify. It also sizes your hobby distributor order. Deluxe editions, wargame miniatures and promo foils vanish early.
It hurts when you cannot give a date. A release that slips three times turns happy buyers into chargebacks, and a date that is only a guess should be labelled as one. Otherwise wait until the cartons are in transit.
Ask two things first: whether the distributor has confirmed your allocation in writing, and whether this title will sell out on release day. If both answers are no, skip it. A back in stock alert is enough.
Choose between a deposit and full payment
A deposit lowers the buyer’s risk and keeps the list honest, while full payment gives you cash for the distributor’s invoice. Large collector boxes suit a deposit. Small expansions and dice sets suit full payment.
Whichever you pick, checkout must say what is charged now, what is charged later and on which date, with the terms stored on the reservation itself. Rules on taking money ahead of delivery differ by country. Ask your payment provider before you open sales.
Send a balance reminder on dispatch day with a fixed time to pay, after which the copy goes to the waitlist. Unpaid balances tie up wanted copies.
- Deposit: lower risk for the buyer, balance chased at dispatch
- Full payment: cash in hand, more refunds if the date slips
- Card authorisation hold: charged at dispatch, but can lapse before cartons land
- Pay on collection: suits local shoppers at launch events
Plan how to share short supply
Distributors cut allocations. You ordered a sealed case and received half. Decide who gets them before the first reservation.
Common rules are first paid, first served, a cap per household to blunt scalpers, and priority for loyalty members with a deposit already in. Pick one, publish it on the product page, and apply it by payment timestamp rather than by the order in which emails reached an inbox.
The list must reserve copies by line item and flag every line you cannot fill, or someone will patch a spreadsheet in release week. Split deliveries need a rule too. A partial delivery can go to the earliest buyers at once or wait for the full batch, and the choice should be written down first.
Handle supplier delays and cancellations
Factories, container queues and customs holds push dates, and tabletop reprints are no exception. Give buyers the expected date as a window, not a promise, and update it every time the supplier moves it. Publishers may set a street date or a reviewer embargo. Copies that land early wait for it.
After a stated slip, buyers receive an email with a cancel and refund link, and the refund returns to the original payment method. A cancelled line closes. Its copy goes to the next buyer. Bundles need care. A base game and its expansion should ship together unless the buyer chooses to split them.
State when a buyer may cancel freely and whether a deposit is ever kept, since consumer law in many countries limits what a seller may hold back. Ask an adviser to check the wording.
- New expected date, shown as a window
- Cancel and refund link, valid for a set period
- Option to keep the reservation
- Note on any change to what is in the box
- Contact for questions
Run a waitlist beside the pre order list
A waitlist catches overflow demand. When copies run out, switch the button from pre order to notify me, and collect an email address, the edition wanted and consent for the alert. Keep that consent apart from the newsletter.
When extra copies land from a reprint, a cancelled line or a late carton, alert the list in order of sign up. Give each alert a short window to claim. Then it moves on.
Test the whole setup on one release first. Pick your next hyped title, write the five rules together on one sheet, and follow a reservation through to dispatch before you copy the setup.
Pre order rules sheet
Five blocks fill the page. They cover payment, allocation, supplier delay, cancel and refund, and waitlist, each with fields for the rule, the buyer wording, the person responsible and the next review date. A strip below keeps the release record. It logs title, street date, copies received and reservations filled.
Open a blank worksheet to printQuestions owners ask
Is a deposit better than full payment?
Neither wins every time. A deposit suits costly or uncertain releases, while full payment suits small items with a firm date, so choose per release and show the terms at checkout.
How do we avoid overselling a hyped release?
Cap sales at the allocation in writing. If the distributor gives no number, cap low and release more slots once the cartons are confirmed, never the other way round.
What if the release date moves?
Email every buyer at once. Give the new window and a cancel and refund link, keep the line open for those who stay, and offer freed copies to the waitlist.
Should the waitlist be separate from the pre order list?
Yes. The pre order list holds paid lines tied to copies on the way, while the waitlist holds no payment and makes no promise. Keep them apart. Staff then never mix the two up.