A friend bought a new upright bass (Chinese) from a dealer through eBay. The neck had so much back-bow that it was unplayable. He finally got his money back after much hassle.

I bought a guitar (not through eBay but through online classifieds) with the bridge in two pieces due to a crack through the saddle slot. A minor repair, but not mentioned in the seller's comments.

Another Mudcatter had troubles last Fall with having sent an eBay seller a check for a guitar and then not receiving the guitar. I think he finally got it several weeks later.

I'm sure some people have had good experiences with eBay and other online services. I just don't know any of them.

Bruce