Recently I have been the subject of purchases that were just not as described in the auction. This is not only frustrating but time & money consuming. Here is my attempt to warn you on what/who to look out for, what questions to ask beforehand & what to do in the event you still then get a pile of rubbish.

Right first things first. A scenario @THE PICK UP@.
Our last mistake (well the missus anyways) was to buy a bed without a picture(1ST MISTAKE), the item said a wrought iron bed with BRAND NEW orthopeadic mattress. So how not new could a mattress be? Anyway she takes a punt as the price is cheap. We arrange to pick up and firstly the bed is not wrought iron it is bog standard cheapo tubular metal okay not a problem in itself but then we see the mattress come out. OH MY GOD this is disgusting with an 18inch brown patch in the middle of it, not only that but the sides are dirty & it has obviously been well used. So not even close to been new.
At this point, you MUST IMMEDIATELY reject the item. If you are paying cash do not hand any over until you are 100% satisfied with the goods. IT is buyer beware & unless you are buying something that could have hidden faults you will have little chance to come back in court if they ask you if you inspected the goods when handing over the cash.

Lessons learn't: DO NOT take one persons description as been gospel even if they say NEW. If it doesn't have an actual picture to support this claim be very dubious as to it's actual condition. Always ask questions and ensure that what you are buying is what you actually want People who are moving can be a bit generous with their description. They are going elsewhere so if the item is a little bit off then then no harm eh cos we are moving and it will be hard for them(the buyer) to track us down. Sorry for all the genuine people but this happens to be true!

DO NOT stand argueing with the seller, this only aggravates the situation, just say this is not as described and we are not accepting the goods.
When you return home if you have paid by PAYPAL email the seller to ensure that they are going to refund the money. If no response just start proceedings with Paypal for a not significantly as described item. The instructions are easy to follow. This should resolve things. If however the seller refuses then you must enter as much detail as possible. On the flip side this happened to me as a seller a couple of years ago, a chap bought some Trivial pursuit cards, I sold them with the description that the cards were in mint unused condition which they were, the box had been kicking around in the loft that held them was clearly pictured and was clearly used. The buyer complained that the box not the cards had some scratches on the side. Anyway the crux of the deal was that as the person could NOT prove the goods were not significantly as described, the main part of the goods 'the cards' were as described and the container was of much less importance given it was an inner box. Anyway this is just an example of what will not work with Paypal if you are been really pernickerty.

Right 2nd scenario @THE MAIL DROP@
Your at home or work waiting for that nice bit of kit or toy you just ordered to come sailing through the postal service (OKAY most of the time Royal Mail are okay) Your parcel arrives, you strip back the brown paper (lol, if you are luck) & hey presto it's a WTF(WHAT THE FLIPP). Hang on a minute that wasn't quite what I was expecting. Again this happened to me, the seller sold me a bicycle part that was clearly damaged in several places, however in the description it said excellent condition and the photo was taken with the damage facing away from the camera.

Firstly I complained that the item was damaged, the buyer agreed. Now this is the important part for me, before I sent back the goods I asked for the return postage costs to be refunded on top of the original total cost. Now this might seem petty but as far as I & UK law stands a buyer should NOT be out of pocket if the goods are not of satisfactory quality or fit for purpose or do not meet the given description. SO BY LAW this means you are entitled to this postage refund even if the seller says otherwise!! If I had sold goods not as described(i.e. I made a mistake) I would offer to refund the return postage, it is the RIGHT & honest thing to do.
Establishing what your rights are as to refund of money is all important, just because it is on ebay does not EXCLUDE sellers from refusing postage refunds BOTH ways. Getting it is an altogether different matter.
On this occasion the seller refunded me via Paypal and I still managed to be out of pocket of the fees. ALWAYS, ALWAYS get a proof of postage when sending stuff back otherwise you have NO proof that you returned the goods even if the seller did actually get tit back.
Lessons learn't: What one person thinks of as been in mint/excellent condition may not be the same as yours. Ask if there is any damage even if there appears to be none especially if it is possible the item has been used in an active enviroment. Cars, bikes, clothing etc.

Okay this is just the tip of the iceberg but just be careful out there. Ask questions, most sellers are 100% honest & some just make genuine mistakes. However some just don't care and are so loose with the truth it is almost criminal! As a seller I'd rather someone asked me X Y Z before they bid then ask it after the event, it just makes it clearer for everyone. If the seller is vague just walk away it is not worth the hassle.
Good luck hunting those bargains
Tony