[Leica] eBay scam?

[hlritter at bex.net (Howard Ritter)]

Hello all?

 Sorry for being a bit OT, but I'm hoping to make use of the group?s 
experiences.

I have an item (not photographic) listed on eBay. I just received an inquiry 
from a person in Moscow claiming that he wants to buy the item at the Buy It 
Now price, which I would be very happy to get, and wants to know how much it 
would cost to ship it to Moscow. And no, he did not offer to go outside of 
eBay and send me a bank check for more than the purchase price and ask for 
the remainder in cash! There was no mention of anything irregular, just the 
inquiry about shipping costs.

I have no prior experience with selling on eBay. I do realize there are all 
sorts of scams run through the site, but I believe the situation has 
improved since they began requiring all payments to be made thru PayPal. My 
question is: It seems to me that if a seller ships only after receiving 
payment thru PayPal, he is insulated from being defrauded?but can PayPal 
claw back a payment to an eBay seller if the buyer?s payment turns out to be 
fraudulent? Does PayPal, which presumably vets the buyer?s form of payment 
and has his money securely in hand before paying the seller, assume the loss 
if later turns out that the buyer somehow defaulted or scammed PayPal? 
PayPay presumably is pretty sophisticated and exercises due diligence?is it 
even possible to scam them?

Are there any other dangers involved in this type of transaction? For 
example, what would happen if Russian Customs refuses to allow entry of an 
item, or the buyer backs out when he finds the import duty excessive?

Thanks for your advice,

?howard