http://www.10news.com/news/5217923/detail.html

Wow... This was an odd read but had some good advice for staying out of trouble online.

Take a look.

Sad to say but there are so many people like this.

BIG Boy!

10 Tips For Surviving eBay

Don't exchange personal information. (Kinda hard not to when they have to ship you something. Not to mention you can get phone numbers and stuff thru eBay)!

Read all of the information about the seller. (the people in the article said he looked legit)

Verify recommendations from other buyers. (you gonna leave this guy negative)????

Read all of the information about the listing. (What's it going to say? Bid on this and I'll come to your house and kill you)?

Be patient, allow sellers to respond to your question. (looks like they did this)??? He responded!

Let eBay know if you receive racist, obscene or harassing language. (and I quote "The company said it assumes no responsibility for any encounters outside its Web site")

Report invalid e-mail addresses.

Tell eBay if you start receiving spam after a transaction. see above quote

Tell eBay if someone tries to intimidate you by threatening to post negative feedback about you. See above quote

Beware of anyone asking for your passwords to eBay or PayPal.

Now I'm not saying this isn't all good advice but in the case of this guy it doesn't seem to apply??? Nor does it seem eBay will help you since this guy is still selling.

and there ya have it in a nutshell folks

The Internet, not just eBay, is a magnet for mental misfits. If you think the people on the Internet are a cross section of typical personalties you are mistaken.

Me personally, I still will buy *rarely* on eBay but only if its something I can't get elsewhere.
Be aware of the possible risks. In my limited on line transactions about 1 in every 100 has been a nut job. None have been threatening.

I've been very lucky. Over 400 feedback (and that's just feedback left) I've yet to have a seller/buyer problem. A few item problems but nothing that wasn't resolved.

eBay assumes no responsibility for encounter outside its Web site. What should have been added to that is if you receive racist, obsene or harassing language in emails that have been sent though eBay's system. Those they will do something about. They do not like people using eBay's system to harrass people.

Ive used it a few time and so far no problems, thankfully

You're absolutely right. This is especially the case of messageboards where typicially people go when they've got a boring and/or depressing life with nothing better to do. It took me like 4-5 messageboards before I finally found a place like GameComplex/GameForum/AuctionForum/AnyOneOfAndrew'sBoards where the majority of people are actually decent. And I know that all the people who I've had problems with would probably consider this to be a case of the pot calling the kettle black, but I know that I'm a good judge of character, and it's not hard to identify bad behaviors and point out internet scum when you see it. I'd say that if you've run into 1 nutjob in 100, then that's pretty damn good. That's the kind of statistic that one could only hope for, in my opinion.