As a Topspin Plus or Enterprise user, you have the ability to create preorders for products that are not immediately available for delivery, both physical and digital.

Get started as usual by creating a new Offer. Go to the 'Sell' tab and select 'New Offer'. 

Name your offer and add a brief description. Input an accurate Street Date (this is the release date and expected "shipping date" that will show up on your fans' receipts). Remember - this does not determine when your offer becomes available for purchase - it determines when your fulfiller will start shipping the physical products in your preorder. To set a future delivery date for digital products, please see "Preorder Configuration" below. 

Select your Product Choice:

This Product Choice should NOT be changed after pre-sales have begun. For example, if you have a digital album and your mastered tracks are not ready yet, you should NOT put the digital album here (later, we'll use the "Preorder Configuration" for this). Changes made to your Product Choice will not be retroactively applied to preorders already placed. If half of my preorder customers purchased Product A, and I meant to sell Product B, everyone who purchased Product A will still get Product A even after I change the Product Choice to Product B. Customers who purchase following this change will receive Product B correctly. However, initial purchasers will get Product A. Such situations necessitate significant customer service, and are to be avoided at all cost. 

It's important to note that your Product Choice must be occupied with a product at all times. Even if the offer is entirely digital and you're primarily using the Preorder Configuration fields in the offer, the main Product Choice must contain some product in order to publish the offer. Because of this, many artists choose to include a digital package containing artwork, liner notes, or even a simple "thank you" note in their main Product Choice. This package will be delivered to customers along with the rest of their purchase on Digital Delivery Date. 

Preorder Configuration

If your Product Choice contains digital media (audio, video, files) or is itself entirely digital, you'll want to specify a "Digital Delivery Date".

Check the box for "Preorder Configuration and enter the correct Digital Delivery Date:

Digital Delivery Date determines when the digital media in the preorder will be automatically delivered to customers (they will receive an email with a download link). In most cases, you can just set your Digital Delivery Date to the same day as your Street Date, and your digital media will be released to customers at that point. If you do not set a Digital Delivery Date in the future, all digital files in the Buy Button will be available for download immediately upon purchase.

Street Date Product

If you have a product requiring additional tracks or any changes during the pre-order period (after sales have already begun), you'll want to set up a Preorder Configuration Street Date Product:

The contents of the Street Date Product can be changed at any time before Digital Delivery Date (unlike the standard Product Choice above). For example, if you haven’t finished mixing your album yet, you can place a mostly empty digital package called "Digital Album Preorder" in the "Street Date Product" selector, even if the digital package only contains album art or liner notes at the moment. Then, when the tracks are ready, you can place them in the digital package and re-publish the offer. As long as you make this change before Digital Delivery Date, all purchasers will get the full digital album! If you'd like preorder purchasers to choose between audio formats, make sure to include one audio component in your Street Date Product placeholder package. 

NOTE: Once the 'Street Date Product' checkbox has been checked and you have published your offer, you MUST select a Street Date Product at some point before Digital Delivery Date. No digital products will be delivered until you've completed your offer by including a Street Date Product. Street Date Product CANNOT remain empty on Digital Delivery Date, or nothing in your offer will be delivered. If you have checked the 'Street Date Product' box but forgotten to include any media, your offer's digital content will not be delivered on Digital Delivery Date (you'll receive emailed warnings of this impending problem in the days leading up to your Delivery Date). Always remember to go back and select a Street Date Product sometime before your Digital Delivery Date. Failed Street Date deliveries can cause great fan base consternation and require a great deal of customer service.

 Instant Gratification Product