Or Group Buy, as is already popular in the mechanical keyboard community. For all intents and purposes, it's pre-ordering without a known release date. Not sure how much people like the idea of that, but maybe there are ways to make it work.
For example, imagine a system similar to massdrop. Let's say the absolute minimum batch was something like 20 units. You have a certain price for that and a date until you can buy into a batch. Now, people can pre-oder their units for that price and pay immediately. If the MOQ is reached, you send out a mail that confirms that their order is now permanent and reminds them of when production of the batch will start. If the MOQ is not reached until the final buy-in date, everyone who pre-ordered gets a full refund.
Now others can still buy into the batch, and once the number of units ordered reaches a certain threshold, the price drops by a few bucks. People who are now buying in will only see this lower price. This is fair to the customers, as higher orders mean lower cost for you, and it will motivate them to share your case and show it to others. Now, once the batch buy-in date is reached, everyone who purchased before the price dropped will be refunded part of their money so everyone payed the discounted price. That way, less people will be motivated to wait for the price to drop.
Then everyone gets a mail that production will begin, how much money they saved/got refunded and when they can expect their case to be shipped. You already have the money you need to start production, so you don't have to pay upfront, and pre-ordering doesn't pose any risk for the customer, so they are more likely to do it. I really like the idea of this system and it works very well for Massdrop, so I'd like to see it be adopted by small companies as well.
