I avoid Ebay like the plague.
Selling away from Ebay goes like this:
Customer contacts me
I let the customer know the total price
Customer sends payment
I send goods.
Jobs a goodun
Selling on Ebay goes like this:
I list item and get charged fees.
200 people watch the auction
Auction stays at £0.99 until 10 mins until the end
10 mins from end a bidding frienzy starts
Auction ends at £15
Payment information sent to winning bidder
Nothing for two weeks
Bidder contacted to find out what is going on, bidder promises to pay
Get an email from Paypal saying payment has gone through
Check Paypal account - no money in account
Check Paypal email and find its a hoax
Get email from bidder saying that if I ship it to Nigeria they will send me a cheque for £5000, I can keep £500 for my trouble and refund the rest to them via Western Union when the cheque clears
Report bidder to Ebay as a non paying bidder but still have to pay fees until its been resolved.
Meanwhile relisted item and repeat from step one.