Some dealers agree to purchase 2 or more of each Harbour Lights sculpture as it is issued. These are called 'auto-ships'. Auto ships account for about 2,000 pieces of a production run.
As new items arrive by container from the Orient, auto-ships are sent out first to dealers, then other pre-orders are shipped (orders that were placed before an item went into production.)
Finally, new orders are filled -- orders placed by dealers after an item has gone into production.
Initial orders for production of new pieces by Harbour Lights sometimes accounts for 4,000 pieces, sometimes more or less.
If pre-production orders account for, say 2,000 items, then a dealer who ordered pieces after production began may not receive a particular item until a second production order is placed by Harbour Lights.
When an item is placed on allocation (all items are presold or expected to be), then the initial production order may be for the total to be produced (4,000 Fresnel, 10,000 Hereford Inlet).
This assures that most dealers will have pieces about the same time.
Even if your dealer receives an auto-ship (usually 2, sometimes more), those pieces may be spoken for by other collectors and the dealer may not have any items to display until the next shipment is received.
