There are several factors involved with preorders. in most cases when an item is preordered, it has not gone into production yet. Preorders indicate interest in the product. The greater the interest, the greater number of items will be produced. Then there maybe issues in the production related to quality control. Then there maybe issues related to shipping. Most of the items in our hobby are made in China. so factor in the the distance to your location. There are many places along the way for a delay to occur. The expected delivery date is projected om the best of circumstances. it is rare to get it earlier, most often it will come later. Some items may just get canceled. It would be nice to get a guaranteed date of delivery, but most will not do that. I personally have items never delivered to lengthy delays. You just have to have patience and hope for the best. Also keep in contact with the company you ordered the item from, they can keep you apprised of approximate arrival date.

Personally, I was not a fan at first, or actually a big fan of it still now, but working in a train store, I can see the reasons why. If we are getting good enough pre orders, it helps us to gauge (no pun intended 😉 ) how much to order in for stock. However, if the project gets cancelled like a couple of Rapido (just across the street from the store) projects in the past, people get disappointed. I also don’t like the wait time!

I pre-order all the time, but only from one hobby shop. This place DOES NOT charge a percentage or any down payment. I WOULD NOT order from a place that does, because most of the time, that down payment is non-refundable if the item is cancelled. For me, pre-ordering ensures I get the items, but from time-to-time, orders get shorted or road numbers are cancelled do to low pre-order numbers.