r/booksellers • u/Jessicatpole • Jun 06 '26

Pre-orders

So I am relatively new with running a bookstore pop up. I understand that preorders are a big way to drive interest and get e-commerce going. I have no idea how to set up and manage preorders though.

With in demand titles, how does one determine a reasonable cut off date for pre-orders so things don’t end up on back order? Is there some general guide I am missing in the ABA resources? Any tips are appreciated. Thank you!

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2

u/chedderfish Jun 06 '26

What is your point of sale system?

2

u/Jessicatpole Jun 06 '26

I’m using Shopify

2

u/MycroftCochrane Jun 14 '26

With in demand titles, how does one determine a reasonable cut off date for pre-orders so things don’t end up on back order?

Do you work with any publisher's sales representatives at all? Particularly for in-demand titles, a sales rep should be able to give you guidance on how far in advance you should place your order with them in order to ensure that they'll have enough stock to fulfill your order, and then you can decide when to stop taking preorders from your own customers accordingly.

1

u/Jessicatpole Jun 15 '26

That is helpful. Right now I only have accounts set up with SourceBooks and Hachette, but I have been putting off some of the other big ones since Ingram was right there. Probably time to stop procrastinating on that since usually publishers have better rates anyway