Firstly I want this to be anonymous. I do not wish to identify the seller or the item involved.
The situation is that an item has come up on the bbs which is of interest to me. Unfortunately the seller lives a very long way away and although in good standing as far as I know has a very small number of posts the vast bulk of which involve sales. I don't know him and neither do I know anyone who knows him.
I offered the full asking price provided that the seller sent me the goods first. The amount involved is substantial-we are not talking about a few pounds but a good number of hundreds of pounds. I promised that if the item was as described I would either send him a cheque or would pay the money directly into his bank account. As a matter of interest I have done this several times recently and the newbie sellers were happy to send the item first and of course they were paid without delay once the item was received.
I once lost a considerable amount of money on here-some of you know the circumstances-most of which is still outstanding and I will NOT be caught again. I would rather leave an item than take the risk. The seller as it seems to me is taking relatively little risk compared with the risk I would be taking sending him the money first.
Do you agree with what I did?