Right now, there are hundreds of pre-sale and pre-order completed cross stitch listings on Ebay which are mostly found at the store listings but some are also at the regular auction listings. Considering that cross stitch pieces take a long time to complete, some sellers sell these pieces in advance to the public. Some cross stitch patterns also very rare and hard to find and buyers usually ask some sellers to stitch it for them.

Defined by Ebay, "Pre-sale listings are those that describe items for sale that are not in the control or possession of the seller at the time of the listing. These listings generally consist of items that are sold in advance of a delivery date to the public."

Is this allowed on Ebay?

Yes, but with certain rules to follow of which these might the areas that you need to watch for when thinking of buying a pre-order cross stitch.

Guaranteed Shipment & Delivery Date

• Look for a seller/listing that guarantee that shipment occurs within 30 days from the date of purchase, whether it was sold via a regular auction or in a storefront listing.
• Make sure also that the listing description clearly stated that the item is a pre-sale item with a delivery date. This text must be of the same size as the default font size of the eBay Sell-Your-Item form which is HTML font size 3. This can be seen right on the title or at the body of the auction. This font should not be on fine print or hidden.

• What kind and color of cloth your piece will be stitched on?
• What is the thread count of the fabric?
• What kind of floss or threads will be used? 
• Any measurements specified, esp. framing allowances?
• How about the pictures? Are they stock photos from the designer's website or are they stock-photos of the seller's previously completed pieces?
• Where will my shipment come from? Seller might be from the USA but item might come from overseas. Make sure that this is noted also.
• How will the item be packaged and shipped?
• How about payment and refund policy?

• Did the seller sells any "pre-sale completed cross stitch" in the past months and did the seller delivers the product within 30 days? You can check this out by going thru the feedback comments and check randomly what the others left.
• If this is too much work, you can email the seller and ask for an auction number or link of a pre-sale made within the last 90 days, which is the time span that Ebay keeps ended auction active for viewing and feedback exchange. By having this auction number, you can also check if the buyer left a feedback or comment for such transaction. This is to check seller's reliability and customer's satisfaction.
• If it is your first time to deal with the seller, it is always good to build a rapport first and be at ease with such seller. It might be a good idea to start buying a ready-for-shipment completed cross stitch to get a first hand look on the seller's piece and selling practices.