For a 'Gentleman's Agreement' to work, you must make sure you are dealing with a 'Gentleman'.
I had the misfortune to trust a seller on this site with the sale of a type 3 engine with 39.000 original miles, Paid the seller the full amount of
$3,000 on the understanding that it would be sent when the arrangement had been made, I thought I could trust him as I had done other deals with him
over time, months went by along with numerous emails, eventually it was sent minus all the NOS parts that were part of the deal, left in a freight
yard, unattended and 130 KLM's from home,
My mate picked it up and bought it up, no exhaust, all the tinware swapped for shit, missing components, fan sitting in the housing, broken exhaust
studs, all ports on the engine left open to the air with no attempt to seal them, dropped the oil and there was hardly any in the engine along with
25mm of sludge in the bottom of the engine, oil had never been changed for years, I would even suggest after I paid him he used my engine for months
without looking after it,
I eventually got $1,800 out of him but would have spent $10,000 in court to get a full refund if he did not give me the money he did, I will no longer
buy anything unless it is in my hand and can see the condition of the item, buyer beware, it certainly taught me a good lesion as there a lot of
people who think this behaviour is normal.
Having the item in one hand and the cash in the other is best
I have sold and bought items the other way and do it all the time on ebay
got ripped of with a lap top but that's about it