Building materials via eBay, any tips on the payment mechanism?

[epsilonGreedy]

I visited the seller yesterday, the building material is in his back garden and he can ship for another £200. To my no longer completely amateur eye what he is selling is top quality.

 

This would be a non-bid fixed price transaction. How should I handle the payment? My thought is 50% down once he has loaded up the goods at his house, then the remainder at my plot before he unloads. I have never purchased anything from eBay before. 

[joe90]

I use Ebay a lot and always pay with PayPal but it’s delivered. cash is king as they say, but not up front, I like cash on delivery (and inspection)

[nod]

Also some will tell you included vat 

But mean they are not vat registered 

Send a message asking if a vat recipe wll be provided

It’s amazing how many sellers aren't vat registered 

[newhome]

1 minute ago, nod said:

It’s amazing how many sellers aren't vat registered 

Many won’t be though if they are selling something off privately. I got VAT receipts for everything that noted that the seller had a VAT number (they agreed to send a VAT invoice before I ordered) but some private sales were still worth it even without the ability to claim back the VAT. 

[Makeitstop]

Apologies for dragging this one up again, but has anyone bought bricks via Ebay?

 

Good or bad choice?