A pre-order flips the usual order of things: instead of building something and hoping it sells, you sell it first and build it for people who've already paid. That's not just cash flow — it's certainty that you're making something wanted.
Do it honestly
- Be clear it's a pre-order and when it'll actually arrive.
- Offer a real reason to buy early — a lower price, a bonus, first access.
- Only promise what you're confident you can deliver on time.
Small audiences work too
You don't need thousands. A handful of true fans who buy early gives you the proof, the funds and the momentum to finish. And delivering well to them builds the trust that makes the next launch bigger.
Set a Real Number, a Real Date, and Say It's a Pre-Order
A pre-order is a promise, so it runs on honesty. Decide the minimum number of orders that makes the thing worth building, pick a date the window closes, and tell people plainly that they're buying something that doesn't exist yet. Hiding the pre-order nature to seem more established is the one move that will actually sink you when delivery slips.
State the terms where the buyer can't miss them: what they're buying, when it ships, and — crucially — what happens if the goal isn't met.
- The minimum you need to sell for it to go ahead
- The date orders close and the date it's delivered
- A plain line that this is a pre-order, not a stocked item
- What happens if it doesn't hit the goal — a full refund
Price It So Early Buyers Feel Clever, Not Cautious
People taking a risk on something unfinished should be rewarded for it, visibly. An early-bird price below the eventual launch price gives them a concrete reason to buy now instead of waiting to see if it's any good. Make the deal explicit — "£25 now, £40 when it launches" — so the saving is a number, not a vague sense of getting in early.
This also protects you. The lower pre-order price is fair payment for the patience and trust you're asking of them, and it means the people who wait pay more, which is the right way round. Just don't discount so hard that hitting your goal still leaves you out of pocket — the early-bird should be a thank-you, not a loss.
Selling to Twenty People, One Message at a Time
You don't need a big audience to fund a pre-order; you need enough of the right conversations. Most first pre-orders are carried not by a broadcast but by direct, personal outreach to the handful of people who already know and trust you. Twenty genuine yeses is often the whole goal, and twenty is a number you can reach by hand.
Write to them individually, and be direct about what you're doing: "I'm making X, I'm taking pre-orders to fund the first run, and I thought of you because you mentioned Y — here's the link, no pressure." That's not spam; it's a real message to a real person about something relevant to them. Send the OneSol pre-order link, let the page take the payment to your own Stripe, and keep the conversation human.