Quoted from snakesnsparklers:I have never heard of that. If someone does that it's due to their own company policy. There is nothing illegal or wrong about charging a card prior to shipment.
Charging a card is a two step process. An authorization and then a capture. I'm pretty sure it's a no-no to "capture" funds before shipping the product. You can authorize the card for the amount but not supposed to capture before shipping. I don't know how this breaks down in the federal law, etc. but this is what I've always seen and it would definitely hold up in this case regarding a charge back.