Keep records of everything ( i.e texts, emails etc ) the more information you have the better. I have done many private sales and dealt with real scammers and people who just messed up or made some sort of error that made me jump to conclusions. What I have learned through experience is that screen shots of my conversations dealing with private sales got me my money back. ill give you my most recent case as an example. I was the buyer, he was the seller, we agreed on 200$ as the price. I sent money right away and for 3 weeks I was getting excuses. Im sure some were true some weren't. Eventually I found out he was acting as a middle man ( not first time ) so I asked him if I could get a refund in 7 days if I haven't received what we agreed on. He said yes. I trusted him a bit since it was our 3rd time. Week later basically he said he doesn't know if he can deliver what I paid for and blamed his buddy, and the money was already given to his friend. So I took screen shots of us making a deal and what I was buying. SS of him saying where to send money too ( and in this case he said he received the money, most of the time it doesn't go that way if the person was alrdy planning to scam or rip you off ) then last SS was of him saying he's not sure etc. I open a dispute upload the screen shots, and describe what was going on then I just wait until paypal responds back. After few questions paypal began investigating, first thing they did was add the person to my dispute so he could defend him self or we came to an agreement. He complained about the dispute and stopped talking. Paypal then basically began investigating the situation. They gave him some time to respond back which he didn't do. A week or so later I got email saying im getting my 200$ back and it got deposited into my PayPal. He ended up with -200$ on his paypal. I had to block him because of his behavior once he found out he was -200$. So if u get an item and it wasn't as described or the person dissappears on you, just screen shot the important parts and open a dispute ticket. Depending on the situation paypal will help you with what to do, if there is anything, like sending back the item and providing the shipping info. As long as they know where u sent the $$ they will get you a refund. This hasn't failed me yet. Sometimes it might take a while but as the buyer once u paid, you've done your part. If he says he sent the item but couldn't provide proof or tracking number or doesn't respond. One way or another paypal will refund you. If item is broken contact seller first, if he doesn't try to work some out, then dispute it.
