By Elizabeth Griffin:
Whether it be the newest iPhone or the latest Call of Duty, companies across the world are encouraging people to pre-order their products. Now, the question left to consumers is this, should you pre-order a product?
For those unaware, pre-ordering essentially means you reserve a product so that you can guarantee to have it on the day it’s released or in some cases before it’s released to everyone. Often this means putting down a deposit on the product’s price, with this amount varying from place to place.
While this may seem like a good thing, there have been examples of people being stung by pre-orders. One example is with Aliens: Colonial Marines. A lot of people pre-ordered the now infamous game, only to take it home on launch day to find it was far from what they were expecting.
While reviews saved some people from picking up the game, the damage had already been done to the wallets of many consumers. Aliens: Colonial Marines went on to be called one of the worst games of the year by a number of sites including Gamespot and Kotaku.
However, just because there are risks with pre-ordering doesn’t mean that no one should pre-order anything again. Being careful is key when it comes to pre-ordering and following a few simple guidelines can go a long way.
- Only pre-order if it has very limited stock. Don’t pre-order a product if there is going to be heaps of stock because you will be able to pick it up after you have heard if it’s what you wanted to get.
- Wait for reviews. It’s good to wait for reviews so that you can get to know what the product is actually like, without risking money. Reading multiple reviews is recommended.
- Don’t pay for the entire product when you pre-order. Put down the minimum deposit, that way you have more money to spend in the present and less to risk in the future.
Regardless of the product, always make sure you are careful before pre-ordering a product, because in the end you’re the only one who will lose out if things go bad.
IMAGE: Axel Pfaender
