Has anyone been pulled into a fast one on gear swap?

Probably only very, very rarely. Indeed, all these years here, I can't recall a specific one...

Another step buyers can use to protect themselves is not to use PayPal transactions as Gifts - it removes all fraud protection from your purchases.

I've been buying and selling through various non-insured Internet forums such as BPL's gear swap since the mid-90s and I really have no horror stories to tell. I'll probably get burned someday but for the most part people are generally honest.

I've had the same experience since Sam. I've bought and sold a ton of stuff online from the early 1990s on. I don't have an accurate total, but easily $10K of stuff over the years.

Gone through the progression of BBSes, mailing lists, web forums, and eBay. I've had a few close calls, but in the end they were made right. In one case, I had to sent an eBay item back for a refund because it was not as described. It took ages to get a refund, and I was fuming. Turned out, his house had burned down. After more delays, I looked into it- found a newspaper article about the fire. In the end, I got a full refund, and I felt like an ass for all the huffing and puffing I did.

It's all a matter of due diligence and patience. If you don't let greed drive you, it's pretty easy to steer clear of frauds and imitations. Some buyers and sellers will fall short of your expectations, but the people I've dealt with have been overwhelmingly honest.

I have bought and sold some $300k via the net through various forums, ebay, and audiogon, over the past 10-12 years. I have only been burned once for $2,300. Based on the savings and convenience, I continue to use it as the primary way to purchase and sell many new and used items.

I always exercise due diligence when performing a transaction via the net, and have walked on a number of purchases and sales when things just didn't seem right. As always, buyer beware.

I have had mixed experience. Here and mostly on ebay things have been perfect. I have bought and sold a wide variety of things here and never even seen a cross word regarding a sale, much less fraud.

I was however very into motorcycles prior to getting back into backpacking, and spent a great deal of time on those forums and building bikes (buying/selling) parts.

I cant say wonderful things for that group. While I wouldnt say fraud was commonplace, i bet at least once a month someone got burned on a forum I was on.