Why pre-order?

[99zulu]

I could say it's all about the chance to get a unit with a low serial number. Certainly that can serve as a justification. But really it's because I just can't wait to get my hands on the thing(s) and want to ensure that it ships at the very earliest opportunity.

[ctrlshft]

On high demand items, provided the manufacturer knows how to handle volume, you are ensured a much better chance of not having to wait a long time until they are available regularly through your retailer.

In my experience, the pre-orders that fell through or took bloody forever were with small time manufacturers that might've initially been in over their heads, or ran into production issues that would otherwise normally get ironed out before product announcements hit.

IMO, Moog will have a handle on this one, and will deliver on time.

[Stevism]

all great points!

@ctrlshft, you say that moog will have a handle on it / will deliver on time...

i really think that's true, so why does one pre-order? will the first batch run out, or is it just so it ships ASAP. as in, will it ship before the option to "buy" (not pre-order) is even available? if so, how long usually?

[10 ton splash]

Originally Posted by 99zulu

I could say it's all about the chance to get a unit with a low serial number. Certainly that can serve as a justification. But really it's because I just can't wait to get my hands on the thing(s) and want to ensure that it ships at the very earliest opportunity.

Could you explain the low serial number philosophy? Ive always heard of manufacturers cost cutting. Whats your take?

[_Haarp]

Well, I look at is that I know I'm going to get 'one' asap and I'm helping them cover their development/1st run costs.

[KrisM]

I preordered an Octatrack and don't regret it. No idea what the serial number is, and don't care

I preordered an Open Pandora several years ago, too, and the company's card processor or something freaked out and made them refund the money to everyone and they had to do wire transfers, but I lost faith at that point and since I wasn't immediately reordering, due to fluctuating exchange rates I lost $80

But I seriously doubt that would happen with companies like Moog or DSI that aren't start ups

On new hardware I preorder to get my hands on it ASAP.

[Rust Creep]

**** pre ordering
Time value of money
Most businesses offer terms like a discount if the balance is paid within 10 days
I'd pre order if ever offered something like a 5% disc
ount

Sent from my HTC6435LVW using Tapatalk

[kpsiegel]

It really is highly dependent on the type of item you are talking about. For large production run products by high volume manufacturers I can only see it as a way to make sure you get in on the first production run so you can get it quick. The downside with that is you get the initial hardware/software versions which may not be stable (hello....Waldorf....). I normally think it is kind of silly to just jump at those type of products since there is going to be plenty eventually. I will say that the new MS-20 has me reconsidering that view just totally based on the wow factor.

Other stuff there is literally no other way to obtain it. The Knifonium production run is 6 units and they are all sold out and pre-ordered. The GRP A4 and GRP A8 were similar. If you didn't pre-order you were just not getting one at all. The smaller manufacturers look at pre-orders to gauge interest to see if a product is even worth doing. That is definitely the case with the Knifonium. Jonte' would not have even done a production run if there was no pre-order interest. I can't blame him. Schmidtt is doing the same thing with his 8 voice poly and I think he is smart to do that.

GRP handled their business fantastically well. Paolo said exactly when you would get your A4 and it showed up on time and for what he told you it would cost. I am getting the impression from my conversations with Jonte' that the Knifonium will be the same way.

The horror show in all of this is the Solaris, of course. I hope I don't die before that thing finally ships to me

[greenlights]

Originally Posted by Stevism

I couldn't find a thread that covered this general topic...so I thought I would like to throw it out there.

What are the pros and cons to pre-ordering a product?

With so much gas occurring after this most recent NAMM, I'm sure a lot of you have placed some pre-orders.

But I've also seen some horror stories on here, where people end up enduring delay after delay even though they pre-ordered.

Just wondering, is pre-ordering just a result of extreme GAS, where you want to make sure that you definitely get some of the first units? Or is there something else going on?

I really want to pre-order the Sub Phatty, and I'm close to doing so, but I kinda want to know why I should

Jrrshop has 15% until tonight... You can pre order for the 15% off.

[Stevism]

Originally Posted by greenlights

Jrrshop has 15% until tonight... You can pre order for the 15% off.

almost did that until I saw that the they say their sub phatty won't be shipping until May.

great deal, but $50 isn't worth a 2 month wait haha

thanks though!

EDIT: $50 as in, most other places will offer $899 if you bug them, a 15% discount leads to $849

[shponglefan]

I've never understood pre-ordering, unless a decent sized discount is involved and/or something is produced a limited batches. I suppose it's the fact that as one gets older, time moves faster; I'd rather wait a few months to see if a new product has issues before jumping on the bandwagon. Having something a few months earlier doesn't seem like a big deal to me.

[savyurrecords]

So the early adopters can get the product as quick as possible.

[10 ton splash]

I was talking to my retail sales guy about the ms 20. He was telling me from experience that most sales come from people who want them first. He also said after three months the hype dies down. I can already see after people start getting there's the complaints that come after word. Well see...

[goony]

i dont mind pre-ordering at all, in fact I just pre-ordered my arturia minilab here in UK..

[Stevism]

nice! the minilab looks pretty sweet

so, do these sales usually go away after the pre-order period? a lot of stores have the sub phatty for $899 now...will that be impossible come mid-march?

[grasspike]

In the internet age where you can order an item from a bunch of different vendors, I do not think that preordering makes any sense unless you can catch some type of special sale, or are a collector and want low serial numbers because you think it will enhance it's value in the future.

In the old days you would go to your local music store and preorder something because you knew that they were only going to get 5 in and you wanted to be one of those 5 because if you were not you would be waiting for months for the next batch to come to the store.

However with the internet that is no longer an issue as the big boys like Sweetwater, GC, Sam Ash, etc will always have them if anyone does. The exception of course if if the manufacturer has issues like with the minibrute but even if you preordered those it really did not matter

[99zulu]

Originally Posted by 10 ton splash

Could you explain the low serial number philosophy? Ive always heard of manufacturers cost cutting. Whats your take?

I don't really have a legitimate take on this other than simply thinking it's cool to have one of the first or earliest examples of a particular model. Imagine coming across a Model D with a serial number of 1? I just think it's neat.

[10 ton splash]

Originally Posted by 99zulu

I don't really have a legitimate take on this other than simply thinking it's cool to have one of the first or earliest examples of a particular model. Imagine coming across a Model D with a serial number of 1? I just think it's neat.

That would be cool, ill take a memorymoog number one.