Pre-orders have become a sensitive topic among collectors.
In recent years, several retailers have gone out of business, leaving behind customers who had paid for figures they never received. The liquidation of several well-known companies operating in European and international markets has further increased collectors’ concerns.
Some customers have lost hundreds or even thousands of euros on orders placed more than a year before the product’s expected release date.
As a result, many collectors have decided never to pre-order again.
This reaction is understandable, but it creates another problem: in a market where collectible figures are often produced in limited quantities, waiting until a product is in stock may mean missing out on it entirely.
Pre-orders are not unique to the collectibles market. They are successfully used in many other industries. The risk associated with pre-orders comes primarily from the way some retailers ask customers to pay for their purchases.
It is entirely possible to continue pre-ordering while significantly reducing the risks involved. A few simple principles can make a major difference.
In this guide, we will look at these different aspects to help you collect with greater peace of mind.
Why have collectors become wary of pre-orders?
When a collector pays in full for a figure that will not be released for another twelve, eighteen or twenty-four months, they are effectively entrusting their money to a retailer for a very long period of time.
During that time, they have neither the figure nor the money they paid for it.
If the retailer experiences financial difficulties, is unable to pay its supplier or goes out of business, the customer may never receive the order.
Customers often discover that a retailer is in trouble too late to benefit from the protection offered by PayPal or their credit card provider.
Payment protection is not unlimited. A maximum period of 180 days for opening a dispute over an item that has not been received is one of the most common limits.
Paying the full price of a product far in advance therefore places the collector in a particularly vulnerable position.
Yet pre-orders remain essential
The purpose of a pre-order is not to allow retailers to collect customers’ money long before delivery.
Above all, pre-orders play an essential role in the way the collectibles market operates.
They help manufacturers estimate demand
Most collectible figures are produced in limited quantities.
Before production begins, the manufacturer must decide how many units to produce. This decision is based partly on the orders placed by distributors and retailers.
Pre-orders therefore allow manufacturers to estimate actual demand more accurately.
If too few units are produced, many collectors may be unable to obtain the item they want. The product may also immediately become the subject of heavy speculation.
If too many are produced, distributors and retailers may be left with significant quantities of unsold stock, which may eventually have to be discounted. This can reduce the perceived value of the product and of the purchase made by collectors who bought it earlier.
Some manufacturers, such as Good Smile Company, clearly explain that production quantities for some of their figures are determined according to the number of pre-orders received.
They allow collectors to secure their figure
For collectors, placing a pre-order ensures that a unit is reserved for them.
Once production is complete, retailers receive a fixed quantity. When every available unit has been reserved, the product becomes unavailable, sometimes several months before its official release.
Securing a reservation is becoming increasingly important as available quantities become more limited.
We have observed that, across many product lines, manufacturers are now adjusting production volumes much more closely to the number of pre-orders received.
Nor should collectors assume that a future reissue is guaranteed. Even if a popular character has been reissued in the past, there is no guarantee that another production run will ever take place.
For collectors who genuinely want a particular item, waiting in the hope that it will still be available after release therefore means accepting the risk of missing out on it permanently.
Pre-ordering can also help you secure the best price
Pre-ordering a figure can also offer a financial advantage.
When a new product is announced, retailers may offer introductory pre-order prices that are more attractive than the price that will apply once the product has been released.
There are, of course, exceptions. If a figure is produced in quantities that exceed actual market demand, the remaining stock may eventually be discounted or included in a sale. However, this situation appears to be becoming increasingly uncommon.
Pre-orders work perfectly well in other industries
The concept of pre-ordering is not unique to collectible figures.
When a customer orders a car that still needs to be manufactured, they generally do not pay the full price of the vehicle a year before delivery.
They pay a deposit when placing the order and settle the remaining balance when the car is available from the dealership.
If they choose to finance the purchase, the financing is arranged when the balance becomes due. The customer therefore starts repaying the financing when they receive the vehicle.
They do not spend an entire year paying for a car they cannot even drive yet!
The same logic should apply to collectible figures:
- the collector pays a deposit to reserve the item;
- the retailer orders the unit from its supplier;
- the remaining balance is requested when the figure is about to arrive;
- the customer pays the balance in full or uses a genuine instalment payment solution such as Alma or PayPal;
- the figure can then be shipped immediately.
Pre-orders therefore work perfectly well when payments are organised responsibly around two simple principles.
First principle: only pay a deposit before the product arrives
The simplest way to limit the risks associated with a pre-order is not to pay the full price of the figure before it is available.
A deposit confirms the reservation without unnecessarily tying up the entire purchase price.
For a figure priced at 500 euros, the level of exposure is obviously very different depending on whether the customer has paid:
- a 100-euro deposit;
- or the full 500 euros.
The amount of money at risk remains significantly lower.
Some retailers nevertheless require full payment as soon as the pre-order is placed.
The customer then has to pay the entire price of a figure that may not be delivered for another eighteen months.
This approach transfers almost all of the risk to the collector.
The retailer immediately receives the full amount, while the customer must wait for the product to be manufactured and delivered.
Several problems may arise during that period:
- the manufacturer may experience delays;
- the distributor may reduce the quantities allocated to the retailer;
- the retailer may experience cash-flow problems;
- the retailer may fail to pay its supplier;
- the company may cease trading;
- the deadline for disputing the payment may expire.
Full payment can remain an option for customers who prefer it, but it should not be the only way to reserve a figure whose release date is still far away.
Second principle: wait until the product arrives before starting an instalment plan
Many collectors believe they need to start paying for their figure several months before it arrives in order to spread the cost.
They do not.
The customer can pay a deposit when reserving the figure and then use a genuine instalment payment solution once the product arrives in stock.
They can then receive the product immediately while repaying the purchase according to the agreed payment schedule.
How does a genuine instalment payment solution work?
With a solution such as Alma or PayPal Pay in 4, the financing is handled by a specialised provider that advances the amount required to pay the retailer.
The retailer receives the full purchase price immediately. The customer then repays the financial provider according to the terms they accepted.
The agreement specifies, among other things:
- the number of instalments;
- the amount of each payment;
- any applicable fees;
- the eligibility requirements;
- the identity of the organisation providing the financing.
A specialised provider can also act as a safeguard
Using a specialised provider offers another advantage: the decision to approve or reject the instalment plan is not made by the retailer.
Depending on the type of financing offered, the provider may carry out various checks to assess the customer’s ability to repay the scheduled instalments.
For financing that falls within the scope of consumer credit regulations, assessing the customer’s creditworthiness is an integral part of the approval process. The provider may take into account the customer’s financial situation and their existing financial commitments.
The same provider may also have information about financing it has previously granted to the customer, including purchases made from several different retailers using its services.
A new application may therefore be rejected if the provider considers that the additional financing would create an excessive level of risk.
These checks are obviously not a guarantee against over-indebtedness, and their exact nature varies depending on the provider, the country and the type of instalment solution being used. Nevertheless, this is an important distinction compared with an in-house payment plan, where the retailer simply collects successive payments without acting as a genuine financial provider.
This system is particularly useful when the product is already available, as it allows the customer to spread the cost while receiving the figure without having to wait until the final instalment has been paid.
Why is starting the repayment earlier a bad idea?
Imagine a figure priced at 600 euros that is expected to be released in twelve months.
The customer immediately agrees to a payment plan of 60 euros per month for ten months.
By the end of the payment plan, the customer will have paid the full 600 euros. Yet the figure will still not have arrived.
In other words, the customer will have paid for the product in full before it is even available.
They could simply have kept those 60 euros in their own bank account each month and paid the remaining balance when the figure arrived.
That way, they would have remained in control of their money throughout the entire production period.
What other warning signs should you look out for?
No single factor is enough to prove that a retailer is about to go out of business or is engaging in questionable practices.
However, caution is advisable when several warning signs appear at the same time.
Be wary of in-house payment plans
Some retailers and brands selling directly to consumers organise their own monthly payment plans for pre-orders.
They send customers a payment link every month or arrange automatic recurring charges to their bank card.
They may even repurpose a service designed to manage recurring subscription payments, such as Stripe.
But in this situation, Stripe is simply being used as a payment-processing tool.
Using Stripe does not turn the retailer into a financial institution, nor does it mean that the customer is benefiting from genuine consumer credit.
In most cases, the system simply works as follows:
- the retailer divides the price into several payments;
- it collects each instalment directly;
- it gradually receives the entire purchase price;
- the customer continues waiting for the figure to be manufactured.
The customer is simply paying for the product in advance, in several instalments, while still carrying a considerable amount of risk.
In addition, payment plans of this kind generally require every instalment to be paid before the retailer will ship the product.
What does the law say about instalment payments?
A retailer cannot simply improvise a twelve- or eighteen-month credit agreement as though it were setting up an ordinary subscription.
In Belgium, instalment payments extending over more than two months fall within the scope of consumer credit regulations.
A business wishing to offer genuine credit itself must comply with specific rules. Depending on the arrangement used, it must either hold the appropriate status as a lender or work with an authorised financial provider.
Access to lender status is supervised by the FSMA, Belgium’s Financial Services and Markets Authority.
This is not a mere administrative formality. The company must submit a complete application and meet requirements relating, among other things, to its management, organisation and financial position.
In France, interest-free instalment payments spread over a maximum of three months currently benefit from a simpler regulatory framework.
Beyond three months, the arrangement may fall within the scope of consumer credit regulations, in which case additional rules apply.
What you should remember
For a small independent collectibles retailer, and even for a sizeable manufacturer, it would be highly unusual to hold the authorisation required to operate as a genuine consumer credit provider.
Collectibles retailers offering their own in-house payment plans generally do not highlight:
- authorisation as a lender;
- a clearly identified financial partner;
- a genuine credit agreement;
- an assessment of the customer’s ability to repay.
Sending you a Stripe payment link every month or asking you to make a bank transfer is not enough to turn a payment plan into a genuine credit service.
If no financial provider is clearly identified, customers should assume that the retailer is simply collecting the price of the figure in advance.
The question you should ask is simple: can my product be shipped before I have paid the final instalment?
If the answer is no, then, as Gandalf would say: “Fly, you fools!”
Should a discount for paying in full be a cause for concern?
Let us be clear: yes.
Some retailers offer a discount to customers who immediately pay the full amount of their pre-order.
The offer may seem attractive:
- pay a deposit and keep the standard price;
- or pay in full immediately and receive a discount.
That discount is not free for the retailer. It is deliberately reducing its margin in exchange for receiving your money sooner.
At the very least, this shows that immediate cash collection is particularly valuable to the business and may indicate a significant need for cash flow, especially when:
- the discount is substantial;
- the product’s release date is still a long way off;
- the retailer repeatedly runs this type of promotion;
- delivery delays are already being reported;
- full payment is heavily encouraged across most or all new pre-orders.
Before accepting such an offer, ask yourself whether the discount genuinely justifies the additional risk.
Saving 20 or 30 euros is not always worth entrusting 500 euros to a retailer whose financial health you know nothing about for eighteen months.
A retailer cannot postpone delivery indefinitely
The law requires the seller to provide a delivery timeframe before the customer places an order.
For a pre-order, this information may take the form of a month, a quarter or another estimated delivery period. A retailer cannot simply state that the product will be delivered “when the manufacturer sends it”.
The date or delivery period stated when the order is placed is binding on the seller.
A delay from the manufacturer may explain why delivery has been postponed, but it does not allow the retailer to keep changing the delivery date indefinitely without giving the customer any alternative.
What can customers do when the delivery date has passed?
Once the stated delivery date or timeframe has passed, the customer may ask the retailer to deliver the order within an additional reasonable period.
If the figure has still not been delivered by the end of that additional period, the customer may cancel the order and request a refund of the amounts paid.
A retailer cannot keep customers trapped in their order
A retailer cannot continually postpone the delivery date while refusing every request for cancellation.
Nor can it remove rights granted by law by imposing:
- cancellation fees after the delivery deadline has expired;
- refunds exclusively in the form of store credit;
- a requirement to wait for the manufacturer to officially cancel the product;
- a clause allowing delivery to be postponed without any limit.
The contract is between the customer and the retailer, not between the customer and the manufacturer. The retailer therefore remains responsible for delivery and refunds, even when the delay originates with its supplier.
Delays are common in the collectibles industry, but they do not remove consumers’ legal rights.
Why does Myth Factory apply a six-month tolerance period?
At Myth Factory, the date displayed on a pre-order product page is an estimate.
We clearly state on every relevant product page that this date may change.
Unfortunately, collectible manufacturers frequently fail to respect the release schedules announced when pre-orders first open. Delays of several months remain common within the industry.
We have therefore chosen a limit that takes this reality into account without requiring customers to wait indefinitely.
If the delivery date stated when the order was placed is exceeded by more than six months, the customer may request a full refund of their pre-order.
No cancellation fee is deducted in this situation.
This six-month limit gives customers a clear final deadline.
Customers should always have a way out.
Customer reviews do not always tell the whole story
Reviews published on Google, Trustpilot, Facebook and other platforms can be useful when assessing a retailer.
However, you should not look only at the average rating.
A retailer may have successfully fulfilled thousands of orders while experiencing serious problems with its most recent pre-orders.
When its rating begins to fall, a company may ask large numbers of satisfied customers to quickly publish positive reviews.
Asking customers to leave genuine reviews is not inherently problematic.
However, a sudden wave of positive reviews can drown out recent warnings without addressing the underlying problems being reported.
Before placing a pre-order, pay particular attention to:
- reviews posted during the past few months;
- comments specifically relating to pre-orders;
- how the retailer responds to dissatisfied customers;
- reports shared within collector communities;
- sudden changes in the number of reviews being posted;
- repeated complaints about the same issues.
A strong historical rating does not guarantee that the retailer’s current situation is healthy.
An influencer’s recommendation is not a guarantee of a retailer’s financial health
Videos, social media posts and recommendations from influencers can help you discover a retailer, but they should never replace the checks you carry out yourself before entrusting a business with your money.
A content creator may have received their own orders without any problems, maintained a good relationship with the retailer or worked with the company for several years without knowing anything about its actual financial position.
They generally have no access to the company’s cash flow, debts, supplier invoices or any overdue payments it may have accumulated.
A recommendation, even when made entirely in good faith, therefore cannot tell you whether the retailer will still have sufficient funds to pay its suppliers and fulfil pre-orders twelve or eighteen months from now.
This is particularly important when an influencer receives a promotional code, free products, affiliate commissions or any other form of commercial benefit from the retailer.
Such partnerships do not automatically mean that the recommendation is misleading. They simply provide another reason not to treat it as a guarantee of the retailer’s financial reliability.
Before placing a significant pre-order, investigate the company directly: how long it has been trading, its payment practices, its financial position where public accounts are available, its terms and conditions, and above all recent customer reports concerning the fulfilment of pre-orders.
What should you check before placing a pre-order?
Identify the company operating the website
Check that the following information is clearly available:
- the company’s legal name;
- its address;
- its company registration number;
- its VAT number;
- the country in which it is established;
- a working method of contact.
Do not hesitate to call the telephone number provided to check how responsive the customer service team is. This also gives you an opportunity to ask any questions you may have about how the retailer’s pre-order system actually works.
Read the most recent reviews
Do not focus solely on the overall rating. Look specifically for reviews discussing pre-orders, refunds and customer service.
Nor should you treat a recommendation from an influencer, YouTube channel or collector group as sufficient reassurance. Use these testimonials as one source of information among many and carry out your own checks on the retailer.
Check how much you are being asked to pay when reserving
Ask yourself how much money you are about to entrust to the retailer and for how long.
Identify who actually provides the instalment payment service
If a retailer offers financing, the name of the organisation providing it should be clearly stated.
Whenever possible, choose a system in which approval of the financing and assessment of your ability to repay are handled by a specialised provider rather than by the retailer itself.
Read the cancellation terms
You should know:
- when you are allowed to cancel;
- whether any fees will be deducted;
- whether the refund will be issued in money or as store credit;
- what limit applies in the event of a significant delay.
Check how long your payment protection lasts
Do not assume that PayPal or your bank card will protect you until the product is delivered.
Contact your payment provider or bank to find out which deadlines apply.
How do pre-orders work at Myth Factory?
Myth Factory is a Belgian company specialising in collectible figures and statues since 2012.
We do not claim that pre-ordering is completely risk-free.
A figure that is still in production can never offer exactly the same level of certainty as a product already sitting in a warehouse.
Our aim is to reduce those risks by following a number of simple and transparent rules:
- the displayed delivery date is clearly presented as an estimate;
- a deposit option is available for the relevant pre-orders;
- the remaining balance is requested when the figure is approaching arrival;
- customers can use a genuine instalment payment solution when paying the balance;
- the figure can be shipped as soon as it is available, after the first instalment has been paid;
- new dates provided by manufacturers are updated whenever they become available;
- customers can track changes to the estimated delivery dates of their orders from their personal account;
- a full refund may be requested if the delivery date stated when the order was placed is exceeded by more than six months;
- no cancellation fee is charged in this situation.
Full payment may still be available for customers who prefer to pay for their order immediately.
However, it should not be confused with a requirement for reserving a figure.
Conclusion
Should collectors stop pre-ordering figures?
No.
Pre-orders remain essential. They allow manufacturers to produce quantities that reflect actual demand and enable collectors to reserve the items they do not want to miss.
They can also make it possible to secure certain figures at more attractive introductory prices, while avoiding the uncertainty of hoping that stock will still be available after release.
The problem is not reserving a figure.
The problem is handing over its full purchase price to a retailer long before the product becomes available.
The better approach is therefore to continue pre-ordering, but to do so carefully.
The two essential rules to remember
Rule number 1: until the figure is in stock, only pay a deposit.
Rule number 2: only start an instalment payment plan once the figure is available and ready to ship.
These two rules do not eliminate every risk associated with pre-orders.
However, they significantly reduce both the amount of money entrusted to the retailer and the length of time during which the collector remains exposed.
Before reserving a figure, do not simply ask which retailer offers the lowest price. Ask which retailer offers the level of reliability needed to handle your pre-order under the safest possible conditions.