You are charged when you place your pre-order. You may cancel your pre-order prior to shipment of the product for a refund. We charge pre-orders when the pre-order is placed to avoid two common problems:
1) The initial credit card or PayPal authorization for the purchase expires before the product ships, and/or
2) The credit card or PayPal account is closed between the time the pre-order is placed and the time the pre-order ships.