Research the person you are buying from and make sure they are who they say they are and they have had a presence for years instead of someone who just pops up to sell something. I find pictures of them (if at all possible) and their current address and how long they have been there. From the information i find out, I will ask them a friendly question that I already know the answer to make sure they don't lie. If I can't do that I don't deal with them and like others have said, i don't deal with anyone out of the country. Remember a fool and his money soon part.
Deals Gone Bad
I have noticed a large percentage of my purchases are turning into Scam sales.....A lot of them I report to e-bay to have them checked out and they still go "south".......l had one on ebay for 2900.00 and another on Audiogon for 2500.00........And the worst thing is it sometimes takes months to get your money back..........Both of these were out of the country, one in the UK and one in South Africa.............