Bad Purchase

[uforgot]

Oh my gosh! I'm so sorry. That is quite a bit to lose! As for the 98%, I figure for every negative, there are three people who were unhappy but didn't want retaliatory feedback. Personally, I wouldn't bid on something over $10 if someone had 98%. Since 1998, the only time I wasn't careful was on the item this thread is about. I have 908 fb comments, and I have never been "taken" on ebay. Here are my personal rules.

1. On big ticket stuff, I try to stay at 99.8% and above. I read all feedback first. So far, I have not had any problems on ebay.
2. If he has any problems as a seller, I may buy something if it's not expensive, and it wouldn't be a problem if the deal fell through. Sometimes they have bad feedback because they only had 50 transactions and didn't pay for one as a buyer. Or their product is good, but shipping is slow. Make sure you read those comments.
3. If they leave nasty comments in feedback to others I pass. Sometimes a seller sincerely tries to make it right, and you can tell.
4. If they come across in their auction description as nasty and rude I pass. You know, things like "Don't bother bidding if you can't pay", etc.
5. Look at the pics. You can tell if someone takes care of their stuff or not. One time I saw an ad for a couch and there was laundry and toys all over it. Or you will see a bike in a garage and there is crap all around. I don't go there.
6. Use a credit card. I know I learned this one from Sandra when she bought her last mixte. She doubly protected herself and I thought, "now THAT'S a good idea".

Why don't you check with your Post Office to see if you can do something about it as mail fraud? I also think that if the seller has buyer protection, (mine didn't, something else I would check for on big ticket items) paypal will refund the money from their own pockets.

Of course, it's kind of laughable that I'm giving advice when I'm the one that started this thread!

As for the highjack, I kind of like this thread turning to online buying safety. That's really helpful to others. I honestly let my guard down because it was TE, but you know what? I will still continue to trust, whereas I don't on ebay. I've made several purchases on the TE for sale thread, and all (but one) were good.