On Tue, 08 Jun 2004 23:51:51 GMT, something compelled "Dude"
, to say:

I once read that Ebay Motors has a policy that when a high bidder wins a
boat, he has the opportunity to do the survey and sea trial to determine if
the boat is as stated.I can't find that nugget on Ebay now and am really
keen on a sailboat there. Can anyone help?

I bought my boat on eBay, and sent the seller a 10% deposit. I
assumed the deposit would be non-refundable.

I carried the balance in cash in my back pocket when I met the
seller at the boat later that week, and we took her out. I
decided that the agreed upon price was well more than fair, and
handed over the cash.

Had I decided that the boat was a POS at any price, I could have
driven back home. What's he gonna do, say bad things about you
on eBay? Maybe, but there's a opportunity for rebuttal there as
well.

eBay can't enforce ****. They say it's a binding contract, but
that's pretty much a fantasy. Basically, there's an
advertisement for something to sell, and someone makes an offer,
but if either party backs out there's nothing eBay can do about
it.

Good bidding.