Note - when placing or responding to adverts be aware that anyone on the internet can place or respond to adverts here. Most people are honest and reliable - but not all people. While very few transactions go wrong, you should always ensure that you are dealing safely before parting with goods or money. One way of doing this may be to arrange to meet in a safe public location to complete your deal in person. If doing this you should take appropriate precautions about your personal safety. People placing wanted ads should consider asking prospective sellers to e-mail a photograph of the goods in such a way that a stock photograph off the internet cannot be used. Please be especially wary of e-mails from potential overseas buyers or vendors. Looking for their name and details on QRZ, and more generally on Google, is often helpful but note that details can be falsified (easy to do on QRZ).

Paypal gift payments should be avoided by buyers as you have very few rights for payments made in this way.

If things go wrong I recommend the Small Claims Court online process? It is cheap, easy and very effective. The fee is added to the claim so if the Court finds in your favour it costs nothing. Filing a claim takes around half an hour and the whole process is handled by the court - you do nothing else.

This link shows you how to do it:

http://www.which.co.uk/consumer-rights/making-a-complaint/taking-a-dispute-to-the-small-claims-court/

This link shows the online service:

https://www.moneyclaim.gov.uk/web/mcol/welcome