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Message:: [QUOTE="Coinchemistry 2012, post: 2118489, member: 28107"]The OP never agreed to accept a check nor is he legally required to accept it.  He is also not ethically required to open himself up to additional risk that eBay will not make him whole and leave him with nothing.  And the fact that a seller is acting sleazily or potentially sleazy does not mean that he should be defrauded - I agree.  I suggested that the OP return the un-cashed check or destroy it.  As long as the OP does not cash the check and take the eBay return funds, I don't see an ethical issue here.  A check has no intrinsic value and is nothing more than a promise to pay, so there is no "theft" of a worthless sheet of paper.  And even if you argued that there was some intrinsic value of a few cents printing cost, it would be offset by the cost of MY envelope to correct the problem.  I don't see anything improper with retaining potential evidence in a potential criminal and/or civil legal matter. And as for the seller, I could care less what he thought or believed.  When someone acts suspiciously and in a manner that leads me to believe that they are carrying out a scam or potential scam, we play on my terms, not on his.  If he is that concerned, he could always stop payment.  And I also don't see the ethical issue with ignoring eBay's request to the check.  I don't think eBay has that right absent a contractual provision requiring you to do so.  As I said, the check is nothing more than a promise to pay and has no intrinsic value.   To my knowledge, eBay requires you to return any merchandise (the "item" in eBay parlance) received in the event of a return.  There is no merchandise to return because the seller never gave any!  It really isn't that complicated.[/QUOTE]

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