WHAT IS A PREORDER?
A preorder is when you buy an item that has not yet been made to help fund the production of said item. This allows me to gauge interest in merchandise before getting it made! It can get very expensive getting custom merch made, and bulk buying things then realising no-one is interested in them is a fast-track to being in the negative with a pile of things that won't sell.
WHAT IF THE THING I WANT ISN'T FUNDED?
It happens! You'll be fully refunded the amount you put towards the item and shipping. If you preordered two items and only one isn't made, by default I'll refund that one item and ship the other.
The other good thing about preorders is all the artwork is already complete so merch can go into production ASAP, so there's a good chance they'll go up for preorder again if funding is unsuccessful first time around. :)
WILL THINGS BE AVAILABLE TO BUY AFTER THE PREORDER PERIOD?
Usually, yes! If I'm holding preorders for something, it's usually to get a pretty high number of things made so I can have some to stock in my online stores or takes with me to conventions. Preorders let me know that it's worth getting a higher volume made and lets people get first dibs on new stuff!