Originally Posted by bikemig

I bid on and won an item I needed from a seller in Europe. I've communicated with the seller and AFAIK the seller seems like a very decent person. But the seller does not have his account linked with eBay and is asking that I pay directly via paypal (and thereby avoiding eBay).

I just don't think that's a good idea, right? My guess is that this has to be contrary to eBay's rules. Plus why would I want to lose any protection I might have from eBay by circumventing their payment system.

Also the seller wants the payment via paypal to be friends and family to avoid the fees. I don't like that either since I have zero protection if the goods aren't as pictured or if any other problem crops up.

Avoiding eBay for payment has to be a really bad idea, right? And doing friends and family for an international transaction via paypal seems like a really, really bad idea.