Over the last few years, "backordered" usually means they're out and have asked for more but no one has gotten around to laughing at their request yet.
www.hlj.com is pretty straightforward about that - they won't take orders what they don't have (and pre-orders are based on what the manufacturer allots them). I've seen a few figure-backorders actually open up ... but much more rarely the other products.
Or there's the yesasia (and sometimes amazon) tactic of never actually having the product but getting you to wait for six weeks while everyone else empties their shelves and then lamenting they weren't able to get it, your loss.
At least I know that cdjapan.co.jp will damn near break their necks to make sure they meet their pre-order commitment.
Amazon and yesasia need to review what "just in time" stocking is... it ain't "say we have it and then maybe worry about getting it later".