I have found myself in a bind.

I was given some money by a close family member and wanted to spend it wisely. I am just beginning my photography business and do not have any "professional" lenses. I have had my eye on one that "does what photographers thought was impossible." This comes at the cost of $1500. Obviously, I do not have that kind of money to spend on a lens at the moment. Searching through Amazon.com, I found this lens at the cheap price of $700. I contacted the seller and asked for more information. This lead to emails outside of Amazon.com discussing this product. The seller is located in Italy and has been doing business with Amazon.com since 2007 according to feedback that was left about him.
I thought I did everything right. I reviewed the seller's feedback, which was 91% positive. I recieved an order confirmation from Amazon.com leading with a paragraph on how my purchase was covered under their A-Z guarantee because they wanted me to purchase from international sellers with confidence. I also received information from the seller telling me my purchase came with a 21 day money back guarantee. Not only did Amazon.com tell me my purchase was covered under their guarantee, they also gave me the information on how to pay the seller. This seller requested to be paid by Moneygram. Amazon.com also provided information on Moneygram agents in my area. I felt safe about this transaction because of the guarantee Amazon.com gave me.
Turns out, I have been robbed! The seller and I communicated daily via email, an address given to me by Amazon.com, up until the day he received my payment. That was on 3/5/10. He told me payment had been received and my lens would arrive in 5-7 days. It has been 15 days and no sign of the lens.
In addition to giving the payment information directly to the seller, which Amazon.com did NOT dissaprove of, I also sent payment confirmation to Amazon.com, information they requested I ONLY do if I did NOT feel safe releasing the information directly to the seller.
I have been emailing the seller everyday since the 12th with no response from him. I contacted Amazon.com and educated them on my dilema. I was told there was nothing they could do to help me with this matter because there was no order number assigned to my purchase. I did receive an order confirmation with no order number, but is that my fault or Amazon.com's?
Appearantly, this seller took this item off of Amazon.com once he learned I was interested. He told me he was having stock liquidation at his store and no longer needed Amazon.com. He was able to use them for the order confirmation and information to pay him.
I am asking that you email this man and kindly request that he change his mind and send me either the lens or my $700. He can be reached at gadgetsnm@live.com. He knows my name and it should be FRESH on his mind with all the emails I have been sending him. I also wanted to share this information with yall so it DOESN'T happen again.