>> OK, WTF does "pre-ordered" mean. If you call the store and tell >> them you >> want the gear, and they take your order for it - maybe even >> payment or a >> deposit - then it seems to me you've ordered the gear. > > Certainly, however when doing this LONG before the product becomes > available and is listed in the catalogs, in my case before the > price and > full specifications are known, it is common to call this pre-ordering. > (even in Europe :-)
A pre-order is a request to reserve a product which has been announced but is not yet available for order placement or shipment. It can either be committed or non-committed, the final price can be committed or non-committed too. In essence, a pre-order is usually first dibs on buying the product when it becomes available for shipment, when its final price is specified, and when it is received by the vendor to fill the order. Placing an order says "I want this available product at this specified price" and involves a commitment to purchase unless the contract of the order specifies that final acceptance of the product is on inspection when received. Godfrey -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net