I ran into this constantly when I had a small jewelry business. Buy materials, make a batch, sell some, sit on the rest. Repeat until the cash flow kills you.
I built a platform where you validate demand before production starts. You list a product, set a minimum number of buyers, and people commit with their card held — not charged. If the minimum hits, you go to production and everyone gets charged. If it doesn't, every hold releases automatically. No refunds to process, no awkward announcements, no materials wasted. Think it like a kickstarter for small businesses or creators.
No wasted materials. No unsold inventory. No manual refunds.
If you make and sell your own products, is this a problem you actually deal with? Would love to hear how you're currently handling it before I build more of the wrong thing.