with one exception. Both parties are sellers and both parties are buyers.

If I make a purchase on the internet outside of ebay, the day my merchandise is shipped the credit card charge is put through on my account. If I don't receive the merchandise, I contact the seller. They have two options... Give me a credit for the full amount including shipping and handling or send me another package at their expense. If the merchandises arrives damaged, they have the same options. They can request that I return the damaged merchandise, with the seller picking up the return postage. If things aren't handled this way, I contact my credit card company and refuse to make the payment for that transaction.

Ebay is the only place that the buyer is penalized for not receiving items or returning damaged merchandise (original postage is not usually refunded and return postage is at the expense of the buyer).

I've always felt that if I don't receive what I purchased, it should be as though the transaction never occurred.

The biggest difference is that you know all of this going into an auction on ebay. When you're trading, it's not normally discussed beforehand.

This has been my experience. Maybe others have had different things happen to them. I think we should approach a trade with the attitude... what if the situation was reversed? How would I like it to be handled.

So far I haven't had anything go missing on a trade, but if the chips I sent did not reach their destination and I didn't have others to send, I would offer to buy the chips sent to me. If that wasn't acceptable, the chips I received would have to be returned.

Just a small application of the Golden Rule.