A recent experience with a purchase of an item posted on r.p.m
prompted me to write down a code of transactional ethics and
conduct, as I understand it to exist (from extensive dealings
on both r.p.m and through Shutterbug classifieds):

1) The first person to meet the conditions of the seller should
be the purchaser.

2) The seller should provide for safe, insured, reasonably fast
shipment - and do it at reasonable cost (an unexpectedly high
shipping charge tacked onto a COD shipment is not acceptable,
though "institutional" [but perhaps unexpected] costs, such as
customs, carrier international fees, etc., are the responsibility
of the purchaser, unless other agreement has been made).

3) The seller should describe what is being sold accurately.
All known inherent faults should be noted. Return should be
accepted for complete refund (cost + shipping) during the period
agreed upon for inspection if the item sold was not accurately
described, or it has a fault which was not noted in the buyer-seller
agreement (for whatever reason), unless other arrangements have
been made. Return for "whim" is permitted, if enabled by a
"satisfaction" return agreement, but all shipping costs are then
the responsibility of the buyer, unless otherwise arranged.

4) If a return agreement exists, only the conditions involved in
that agreement are relevant (the original price, how the seller
handles other offers that occur during the sale process, fault
discovered after the agreed inspection period, etc., are not
relevant). If portions of the return agreement are not specified
(as in who covers shipping under what conditions when there
is a return), ethical conduct and standard practice (as described
in "3)" above) should be followed.

5) If the buyer and seller cannot agree on who is responsible
for shipping on a returned item, a reasonable compromise is
an agreement to split the cost.

6) If an item is returned for reason of defect or inaccurate
description, that item should not be offered for resale without
an accurate description of its condition, regardless of price.

7) The buyer and seller should follow the terms of the agreement
made between them, and try honestly and earnestly to work out
differences between them before making the dispute public.

Hope This Helps