I think if you have any doubts it is quite easy to strike conversation via ebay. If the seller sounds like he/she knows what they doing and communicate well it should be a nice clue.
If there are any conditions, like they won't post response until you do if they won't accept someone with such and such credentials- it is to me a sign to be beware.
I did buy few seeds on ebay mostly from MG sellers and had great time and met nice people.

I have become quite the ebay shopper in the last year and can honestly say I've rarely had problems. I've not bought seed but have bought dahlia tubers and they arrived promtly and bloomed beautifully.

I have LOOKED at seed, of course, but I've done so many group trades this fall I can't allow myself to buy more. The only thing I have noticed is that sometimes the offer is for very few seeds in a packet. So be sure to read until you find this information or send a quick email to the sellar to ask.

Ebay is a great place to find seeds. I buy almost all my seeds there. Watch each fall for large bundles, like groups of 25-50-100 assorted packs, usually all current date. I pick those up and pay about .10 - .20 cents a pack. I take out what I want and resell the rest to friends and at my garage sale for .50 cents a pack,this makes mine almost FREE! I never use Paypal or credit card, only money orders and personal checks if I get to know the seller. Do always check feedbacks, I don't buy from anyone with 98% or less. A couple sellers I can recommend are candy*dandy, onalee, and lonnies. You can also do a search for brand names, like Burpee, Ferry Morse, Sean Conway and Martha Stewart seeds to find get bundle deals.

Happy shopping.

April

Really? Ebay? Every time I even look at seeds there, I get so disgusted that their photos don't match the latin name or cultivar I give up. I forget what all my annoyances have been, but I will definitely look up the sellers you are recommending, because I never saw anything but suspicious looking and sounding seeds.

Lime

I've bought tomato seeds and flower seeds on Ebay and have been very happy. I bought the toms from salestuff 123:
http://search.ebay.com/_W0QQsassZsalestuff123

and flowers from salvia350:
http://search.ebay.com/_W0QQsassZsalvia350

and I hear there's a really good seller named plantaholics, who has nice penstemons!
http://stores.ebay.com/plantaholics

Tiffy, make sure you let me know what those seeds are, as I have a big stash!

Only one thing I can say about eBay -- YES!! BUT - be sure to read the feedback - not just look at the numbers but actually read the feedback before you purchase from a seller. Do not let one or two negative feedbacks scare you. You have to consider the source. I once got a negative from a buyer who was adamant that he did not buy my item. Well he did because no one else was on his account but him. He refused to pay and gave me a negative. About a month later he was kicked off eBay for doing the exact same thing to several other sellers. The only way you can find out if a seller is reputable is actually reading the feedback. If you are a total eBay newbie I would not buy from folks with "0" feedback until you become more eBay savvy. Most folks selling on eBay are totally honest but there are a few crooks on there who give others a bad name.

Thanks for the input evryone.

The person I'm considering has a 100% positive feedback on over 3,500 sales. The comments are really great too!

OK, I'm going to jump into ebay and some preliminary sowing this weekend.

Thanks again.