[Leica] Ebay advice

[Gary Elshaw <gary.elshaw@vuw.ac.nz>]

Hi Folks,

I managed to buy a IIIG this morning on ebay. The truly funny thing is i'd
never been to ebay before, until the LUG discussion last week where people
discussed how bad it is! The bad news is, I think the camera i bought is
possibly fictitious. I've notified the ebay security department about the
seller, and i'm hoping they may get some answers/assurances before me.

I haven't sent any cash, but there has been some suspicion from a couple of
the other bidders, and i really don't know what to do. This camera has been
a personal dream of mine for a long time and at the moment i'm not really
willing to let it go (poor students like me are like that). I've asked the
seller for a serial number, but that kind of information is accessable to
most people, including myself. Do any of the luggers have suggestions of a
course of action. The only possible thing i've come up with is getting the
seller to send the camera to ebay before i send him/her the money. Does
that sound reasonable?

Thanks for any advice and/or light you can shed,
Gary