regarding boatmad's post on ebay, I think its one of two things.
1) adverts are dodgy, no item for sale, hence person posting the add has no idea what he is talking about
2) We have so many foreign nationals living here now that do not understand english, hence they make large mistakes when selling something on line, or, refer back to one for a dodgy deal.
I know of one deal where a buyer agreed to view a 15 foot speedboat, he met the seller at the boat compound, viewed the boat, briefly run the 50HP merc, agreed a price and handed over his cash, happy with his deal.
He went back following weekend to find the "owner" using his boat. the phone number on the advert was not available, no address details changed hands.
Its never so true as buyer beware.