Conversion rate research method QUESTION (refund capability needed)

I've seen a product viability research method described that goes like this:

1) Create landing page for product without actually having inventory (yet)
2) When people "buy" and have actually entered their info, pop up a message saying the product is experiencing delays.
3) If the conversion rate is high enough to warrant further investment, fulfill orders and reinvest profits into customer acquisition.
4) If conversion rate is too low, refund them.

My question is: how can I set this up? Are there services with these capabilities? I.E. Paypal, or something similar?
I'm planning to plug this all into a clickfunnels or leadpages site, so it's got to be possible to plop the card stuff into a site with a plugin or API. Also, I
obviously want to use a credit card handler that is safe and won't be sketchy for the buyers, but I don't know about doing refunds, etc. Any advice?

Another thought I had was to not even charge the card in the first place.

Bear in mind this is a temporary measure to research a market and I wouldn't be relying on it for long, so it doesn't feel too black-hat to me--no one loses their money without getting what they paid for!

It seems to me that a better idea would be to use Amazon affiliate or another appropriate platform to do this; instead of messing around with refunds. That way, you still get paid on low converting products, and the winning campaigns can be converted to whatever it is that you're doing.

t4nk78 said:

It seems to me that a better idea would be to use Amazon affiliate or another appropriate platform to do this; instead of messing around with refunds. That way, you still get paid on low converting products, and the winning campaigns can be converted to whatever it is that you're doing.

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My only concern with this is that I'm trying to sell a product that I have created--hopefully I can do this all myself on my own site. As a somewhat newbie to this, maybe I'm missing something obvious though. Just looking for a self-contained payment management system that's secure and can handle refunds/research-without-charging-on-purchase whatever that's called.

Davey45 said:

My only concern with this is that I'm trying to sell a product that I have created--hopefully I can do this all myself on my own site. As a somewhat newbie to this, maybe I'm missing something obvious though. Just looking for a self-contained payment management system that's secure and can handle refunds/research-without-charging-on-purchase whatever that's called.

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I would just set up a landing page and collect leads to start. Seems pretty shady to process transactions without any intention of producing the item paid for. I also don't see the upside of issuing refunds vs collecting leads.

It's a physical product that already exists and has a market. I'm adding a catchy alteration and brand. It's not "trending" per se but with my background I think I can fix that using clever advertisement

The test batch idea is great, but I'm trying to eliminate an entire phase of development and production while researching if I can sell this thing. Hence the landing page and "fake but not really fake" sale that either refunds the customer, doesn't charge them. Just to see what my convert rate is before sinking too much time into developing this product.

t4nk78 said:

Setup a nice landing page and just collect leads. I don't see why you need to process any transactions before having inventory. If the product is good enough to invest in, you will know by the leads generated from your cta.

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Could you elaborate a bit more on this? I feel like knowing whether a lead actually made a purchase (whether refunded or not charged at all) is infinitely more valuable to me than a lead. If I can see how many people actually bought the thing I know if it's worth putting work into making it! That's why I'm looking for a platform/plugin to process card payments and refund, or to "fake" processing payments without charging the customer.

t4nk78 said:

Is it a tangible item or digital? I'm assuming it's not digital bc then there's nothing stopping you from simply delivering the product as purchased. So the next question is...

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Nice note on the digital product--> I had thought of applying this market research strategy to a digital item that I've been thinking about as well but it makes sense to just put in the (minimal) work to set that particular digital item up instead of running around in circles doing research that's arguably more difficult.

I appreciate the in-depth replies! You seem pretty damn intelligent