I think a lot of that can be managed with messaging and expectation-setting.
My experience hasn't been that volume is manufacturing-limited. A frobitz costs $50 to make, ship, support, etc:
- I know I'll sell 200
- I think I might sell 800
- Best-case, I'll sell 1600
Without preorders, if I order 200 and sell for $60, I'll come out $2000 ahead guaranteed. If I order 800, I might come out $8000 ahead, or I might come out $28k behind. If I order 1600, I'll be almost guaranteed to come out behind.
Ergo, it makes more sense for me to order as many as I *know* I'll sell, and to have shortages than it does to order extra. Unsold units cost a lot, and can drive me bankrupt. Shortages are a bit of lost profit. That's especially true for low-volume, as is the case here.
My experience hasn't been that volume is manufacturing-limited. A frobitz costs $50 to make, ship, support, etc:
- I know I'll sell 200
- I think I might sell 800
- Best-case, I'll sell 1600
Without preorders, if I order 200 and sell for $60, I'll come out $2000 ahead guaranteed. If I order 800, I might come out $8000 ahead, or I might come out $28k behind. If I order 1600, I'll be almost guaranteed to come out behind.
Ergo, it makes more sense for me to order as many as I *know* I'll sell, and to have shortages than it does to order extra. Unsold units cost a lot, and can drive me bankrupt. Shortages are a bit of lost profit. That's especially true for low-volume, as is the case here.