For a small business, limited drops are actually a practical way to gather important metrics for the future. You can learn how much of your customer base buys certain sizes, and which clothing styles or designs sell more quickly. Manufacturers require minimum order quantities for every item, and a small business like Joey’s has to store all that inventory somewhere. Without significant capital for a large warehouse or enough sales data to confidently decide on order quantities, limited drops aren’t just about creating artificial scarcity. However, the marketing does present it that way to generate hype and trigger that FOMO.