“highly rated sellers on eBay”
Now thats funny, you left out Craigslists
Thank you for displaying your full blown ignorance on both eBay and Craigslist. My wife and I have been buying and selling collectable items on eBay since 1999. We have maintained our 100% positive feedback by treating every sale as a sacred contract and treating every customer like they are our best friends. And in fact we have formed many long term relationships through eBay. When someone has common interests and purchases thousands of dollars of merchandise from you that tends to happen.
Are there scam artists on eBay??? Obviously but using a little common sense can keep you out of trouble. Reputable sellers actually are the ones who are at the most risk. We do not have much control over who purchases our items. And if you purchase from a seller without actually taking a look at the length and quality of their feedback reputation you are putting yourself at some risk.
Craigslist is a different type of animal and the potential for getting into difficulty is greater. But we have been using them for many years as well and have had hundreds of successful transactions. By being careful we have never been scammed even once. And we have also made many friends and customers that we met through craigslist.
It is amusing to me the number of people here who make fun of things that they have no experience or understanding of. If you don't have the courage to use eBay or Craigslist and are only comfortable buying merchandise from a large retailer that says more about you and your level of confidence in your own judgement than it does about those of us who do use them.