[tom406]

I think Paypal is a must, at least on the auctions I bid on. However, I've been reading about several people who have had bad experiences as sellers. Paypal is part of Ebay now, so the relative lack of protection holds true for both. The bad experiences involve shipping expensive items, having the buyers claim to have never received them (even with signatures), using their credit card company to push on Paypal, who refund the money then freeze the seller's account or take it from the seller. Several things have to go wrong for this to play out, but imagine shipping out a $1500 block, then having Paypal seize $1500 from your account to repay the credit company the buyer used! That one deal could unwind all of your potential profits and your buddy's good will. There are some seller's forums you should read up on.

Sell cheap things first and build up your feedback rating by making those people happy. It will help your bidding later by increasing bidder confidence.