[titchyyyy]

Do you know of any ways to pay for an item such as this without truly having the money? I guess a credit card is probably the best option.

Depending on your financial Institution, fees & charges may apply when opting for a personal loan, so a credit card Is your best option.

As well as that have you personally ever had an item not be refunded after a wrong item ordered has went through?

I haven't personally experienced It (I push the claim to It's limit until a refund Is Issued), but I have read cases that have failed.

I feel confident in my abilities to get this done but I’m also nervous for the monetary factor / fear that it won’t be refunded.

Maybe start off with other companies for lesser priced item(s) (<$500) and build your way up. Once you get a refund for an item with one company, sell it locally / online and then do another item for <$1000 and so on until you've reached the price of the lens you want?

This way, regardless if the SE fails (which it shouldn't do) for the lens, you'll have paid nothing for it anyway. If you do successfully SE the lens, you'll leave your self with a lot of spare cash to SE in the future and you'll have the item you want.

I remember starting from a £500 bank balance. Now I'm up close to £20k in profits and still have consoles, phones, computers, monitors, speakers, sound systems in my possession that I would never have been able to afford before.