How pre-orders work on FarmPlace

Introduction

Most food is sold after it's grown — which means the farmer carries all the risk. Pre-orders flip that: you commit to buying a batch while it's still in the ground, and the farmer grows with your money already committed.

Here's how the flow works on FarmPlace, for both sides.

For buyers: reserve before it's ready

When a farmer opens a batch — say 500kg of onions ready in six weeks — the listing shows the quantity, the ready date, and the price per unit. You can:

• Reserve a share of the batch at the listed price
• Pay a deposit that locks your share and your price
• Chat with the farmer about delivery, packaging, or quality checks
• Track progress through the farmer's update videos as the batch matures

Your price doesn't move even if the market spikes. Neither does the farmer's — which is the point.

For farmers: sell the harvest before it exists

Opening a batch takes a photo, a quantity, a date, and a price. Once buyers start reserving:

• Demand is visible — you know exactly how much is spoken for
• Deposits are working capital — committed sales fund feed, seed, and transport
• No harvest-day panic — you're not negotiating with a broker while produce rots on the truck

Farmers who post regular feed updates build trust faster. Buyers watching your crops grow are buyers who don't haggle on delivery day.

What happens at pickup

When the batch is ready, the farmer marks it and buyers get notified. The remaining balance is settled at handover — in person at the farm gate, at a market meetup, or through a delivery arrangement made in chat.

If a batch fails — weather, disease, whatever — the farmer cancels it and deposits are released. We'd rather have honest cancellations than silent farmers.

Why this beats the spot market

Spot buying means whatever's available today, at whatever today's price is. Pre-orders mean the food you want, from the farm you chose, at the price you agreed — before the middlemen ever saw it.