Ever Get An Item Before You Paid For It?

No, never but I would pay for the item anyway.

I always pay straight off. However I've had coins from dealers that I know have arrived before my cheque to them could have done, let alone cleared. Most dealers here in the UK will send coins on approval to people they know.

But ebay? Well, as a seller I'm afraid I always wait for payment before I ship. Your seller must have agreed you had good reason to delay payment Justin. And been sympathetic.

I trust you'll give them glowing feedback! And hope that your wife is on the mend.

In Russia, we have a website similar to ebay that is called Molotok.
The one time I actually won a coin there (a dateless Matron Head cent for roughly $3 including shipping), I just couldn't figure out how to pay for it short of literally sending the money by mail (which would've probably been more expensive that the item itself).
I eventually figured out a way, but it wasn't until I've received the coin already.

...Unfortunately, the specific way I've figured out probably isn't applicable on ebay (at least unless the seller is Russian anyway), and sending money by mail is explicitly prohibited. I've only ever figured out two ways to pay for ebay items without breaking their regulations, and one of them is "let someone else buy the item and pay, then they send it to me outside ebay and I pay them when they come to Moscow" (and as for the other one, it's complicated enough that I doubt it's really applicable, and only appears to be missed by the ebay regulations because it was too ridiculous for them to consider).
And this is why I never bought anything on ebay (I don't remember if I even have an account there, actually).

Would that be September 2012 or 2013? If 2013, most of these discussions happened earlier.
Also, as far as I know, you need to have a credit card to get a Paypal account. I don't have a credit card, and I'm not entirely sure how I could get one without having either a job, a lot of money, or both (admittedly, I have a card from the Bank of Moscow that might, I suppose, theoretically be credit, but I'm not sure if it is even working after four years of non-use, and for that matter I doubt Paypal would honor Bank of Moscow - not after what happened in 2011).

No, but I accidently left feedback for a buyer before the person paid. He thought that was pretty funny. FAST PAYMENT, EXCELLENT eBayER!! lol

I've been on the other end of this once: the first sale I had on ebay.

Most of the stuff I've sold so far has been really for a friend (I sell his stuff for a 5% cut, which is really not too much). Anyway, we were so excited when our first item sold that as soon as I and the address of the bid winner I drove to the post office and mailed the package. It was only after I got home that I realized what a boo-boo I might have made. Naturally, the buyer took close to two days to pay, and I spent every hour before that sweating it, thinking I screwed my buddy out of $150.00. Well, after I finally got the payment confirmation I was relieved, and the buyer left feedback saying how fast the package got there, which was next day.

I've tempered my enthusiasm since then and wait for payment before shipping. Most times it's in the hands of the USPS within an hour after payment, but AFTER PAYMENT.

A very trusting seller indeed! Give him some stellar feedback with a warning on the side never to do this again.

Have any of you sellers ever received a positive feedback before you've shipped or before your customer could have possibly received his item? It's happened to me a few times. I just shake my head and go, "hmmmm...".