Amazon says, “Whenever you pre-order a book, CD, video, DVD, software, or video game, the price we charge when we ship it to you will be the lowest price offered by Amazon.com between the time you placed your order and the end of the day of the release date. “

That seems pretty clear — you get the lowest price they offer between your order and release date, even if the release price is higher. The reason I was wondering is that the discount they’re offering (33%) is pretty close to the wholesale price. (Or perhaps I’m misremembering / misinformed, and the wholesale price is a 40% discount.)