Pre-Order Policy

Last updated: September 13, 2025

What is a pre-order?

A pre-order reserves an upcoming item before it arrives. Choosing Pre-Order — Pay Later (0% deposit) holds your unit without charging you today. We’ll email an invoice when your item is ready to ship.

Pre-order deadline (catalog due date)

• The pre-order deadline is the last day we can guarantee a reservation with the manufacturer.
• Orders placed before the deadline are prioritized and typically guaranteed (subject to manufacturer allocation).
• Orders placed after the deadline are accepted only if inventory remains.

Binding commitment

• When you submit a pre-order and receive the confirmation email, your reservation is conditional until the pre-order deadline.
• After the pre-order deadline passes, your pre-order becomes a binding commitment to purchase.
• Cancellations are not accepted after the deadline. At that point we have already submitted our purchase order to the manufacturer and your unit is allocated to you.

If the manufacturer cancels the item or short-allocates our order, we’ll notify you and adjust or cancel at no charge.

Estimated release date

Release/arrival dates come from the manufacturer and may change. We’ll update timelines as we receive updates.

How fulfillment works

1. Place your pre-order (no payment due at checkout)
2. When your item is confirmed/ready, we email an invoice.
3. Payment window: please pay within 7 days of receiving the invoice.
4. Once paid, we ship promptly (typically 1–2 business days).
5. Multiple pre-orders with different arrival dates may ship separately as each is paid.

Pricing

• We aim to honor the price shown at the time you pre-order.
• If the manufacturer changes wholesale pricing before release, we’ll contact you with options (accept new price or cancel the reservation).
• If a price drops before we invoice, we’ll pass along the savings.

Allocation & limits

If the manufacturer allocates fewer units than ordered, we fill pre-orders placed by the deadline first, then by order time. If an item is cancelled at the factory, we’ll cancel your pre-order at $0.

Shipping & handling

• Shipping is charged when you pay the invoice.
• After payment, standard handling is 1–2 business days.
  

Questions?

Email support@thomasandhistrains.com with your order number.