I have taken several risks and brought different guitars from sellers with ''no reputation'' whatsoever.....so far wala pa namang pumapalya...here's my teknik
1. I always ask 2 valid ID's with their Meralco or Water system billing on top of it (address is very important)
2. I always make sure that they have a bank account.
3. If you are buying a guitar, make sure na pakunan mo ng ibang angle at close-ups according to your requests, para sigurado kang hindi niya kinuha yung mga pics sa ebay and whatnot.
4. Pretend that you have a relative from NBI or a Police Office from this and that, at pretend ka rin na taga Maynila ka or wherever the heck is the seller is from (if you are buying from the province)
I almost got duped by a buyer who was selling an IBANEZ RG...everything was set, ihuhulog ko na lang yung pera sa banko..but when I asked for additional pics like close-up of the fretwires and tremolo, he declined....sabi naka pack na daw at ready na for shipping....But I had a feeling that he was selling a fake anyways, OR the guitar that was posted in his page wasn't his.....