CrankbaitJon
Super Freak
I think he knew you meant eBay.
But an eBay “pre-order” is the same as a purchase. It’s just a pre-order in name only. And it’s on the seller’s word that they actually send you anything when the item is finally released if you’ve lost buyer protection because it’s been too long.
It’s actually against eBay policy to sell an item as a pre-order further out past 30 days I believe.
Even if the seller is trustworthy, I definitely would not recommend buying an item on eBay as a pre-order more than 180 days out (length of PayPal protection). Even with a big discount. You never know what’s going to happen in life between now and then. Something could happen to the item, to the seller, to production, to the company, etc.
I know what you mean. It is definitely a risk but my choices of vendors are limited. I only buy from the more well-known eBayers if I use eBay.