Ron Natalie wrote:

That's the price you have to pay to get the exposure of eBay and I
always feel safer buying stuff from essentially anonymous people with
a credit card (through PayPal if need be).

When you pay thru Pay Pal you are not protected. Pay Pal is a third
party. Since you didn't pay the seller directly your credit card
company is not obligated to fight on your behalf if you get screwed.