1. Check a sellers feedback rating. If there are any negative or neautral feedbacks, read them carefully and make an informed decision as to whether or not you feel secure in dealing with this seller. Remember, in any business, for every complaint, there are probably 10 more not speaking up, so one negative could really mean 11 unhappy customers!!

2. Check how long they have been operating in the industry. See how long your seller has been selling on ebay, if they have sold a large amount of items in only a few months or even a year, this could be dangerous, they may not be well established in the ebay community and do not have a proven track record. Their customers will probably not be repeat buyers and their items may be of a cheap, inferior grade as new sellers tend to "chop and change" their products to what is popular and the most profitable each year, they do not necessarily have a loyalty to one category of items ie furniture, if they sold umbrellas last year and bbq's the year before. These things may not be evident to you until some time after your purchase, when it is too late and your item falls apart, so find out how long they have been in the industry of the item you are looking at, this should be evident by their feedback.

3. Look closely at the pictures, if they only provide small, unclear photos, they may  be hiding something that they do not want to be clear in their add or they simply don't have "real photos". Also, if the images appear to be "too professional" they probably are, if you search some key words in google, you may very well see the same photos your seller is using, the inference is they may have a similar item but they have used a good photo from google to sell their product and do not have "actual" photos to provide. We have also seen many sellers pass off photos of themselves, customers (clearly models) or their business in their listings which we have later found in google by searching some key words.

4. Check they have a "Powerseller" rating amd the level of such, this can only be achieved by a proven track record of consistent sales and a good customer rating over a period of years.

5. Always check the measurements listed of the item,  many sellers use google or other images that may appear to be very large items or the same as something you have seen elsewhere, but on checking the measurements you may find the item is in fact not that large at all and certainly not the same item you had in mind.

6. Give them a call, you can usually tell a lot about someones integrity in a few minutes on the phone. Try to arrange a viewing of the item or have a look at some sample items if possible, usually the fact that displays are readily available is a good sign in itself, they are obviously confident in their products and have nothing to hide.

7. Check the refund and warranty info

8. See how strict they are about payment verification, if they have no restrictions on paypal/credit card etc, they may not be too concerned about "closing up" business in a few months and running.

9. Check what else they sell. If it is all random, unrelated items, they are probably not experienced in the one area and simply sell what is most profitable for them at the time. Ie if they sell furniture, trampolines and umbrellas they likely do not have a background in furniture and vice versa.