"I'm inclined to trust him, but all this gives me pause." My advice, if you have any, any, question about a transaction, don't agree to it. We are mostly hobbyists here, not merchants, another buyer always comes along. It's not worth the grief. Your transaction seems particularly entangled. You don't have a whole lot of feedback yourself, go with your gut; you wouldn't even be posting here if you did not already know the answer.