High end electronics are probably the highest fraud area on ebay (perhaps along with signed collectibles). At the same time, there are enough bidders out there that while you may get a good deal, you won't save too much over other cheap but more reliable venues. Personally, I'd steer clear, but if you do proceed....

- Only deal with US based sellers. Be especially wary of eastern europe and southeast asia.
- After the auction, if the seller's location (from the auction and from his id card) don't match his payment info, run.
- Only pay with Paypal, and use Visa or MC for the entire amount. This should give you some charge-back rights in case the transaction goes bad. Discover and AmEx do not offer the same paypal protections.
- Before bidding, find out if the seller is an authorized retailer, and if not, find out how that affects your warranty.
- Read the auction description, title AND category carefully: make sure you are bidding on a camera and not an empty box or wholesale inforamtion.

Good luck.