To continue with other things to beware of, I recently bid on an old
xylophone on eBay, only to be outbid at the very end of the auction.
Oh, well, that is how it goes.  However, a few days later I received
what appeared to be a "second chance offer" which is something designed
by eBay in case the winning bidder backs out.

Since the purported "second chance offer" gave me instructions to send
my name, location and other information to an email address that did
not appear to be the seller of the item, I went back to the original
auction ad and contacted the seller through the "ask question" link.

Needless to say this "second chance offer" was a scam as the xylophone
had indeed been paid for and sold to the winning bidder.

In another instance, I sold an instrument on eBay with many photos and
very detailed description.  The instrument sold for a very good high
price and all went well with the sale.  Two months later, I received
a message from another eBayer who was originally interested in the
instrument.  He told me to check another auction on eBay where it
appeared that the instrument I sold was back up for sale.  I checked
the ad.  A complete fraud: someone had taken the photos and description,
created a fake auction in the hopes of collecting several thousand
dollars for an instrument he did not own.

This has happened twice from two different "sellers" with the same
set of my pictures and description!

Moral of the story -- don't be afraid to ask questions, ask for more
photos, don't work outside of eBay, don't trust unsolicited emails
purporting to work with eBay, etc.

Deane Prouty