I think that it is inevitable that some people will misrepresent themselves and their products based on rising values of parts and tools.
In a community such as this, where so much is based on trust and shared experience, there still has to be a large element of caveat emptor. However, I have 'missed out' on many parts I really wanted as, being a relative newbie at this, I was asking questions about them, or trying to ascertain originality and fair values, etc. Sometimes I have taken a gamble and bought something I believed was something else: I put this down to experience. In my opinion, most folks here do not misrepresent themselves, and are tolerant of newbies asking questions; but they still want to sell their products. So there is always an element of risk involved.
In two recent transactions on another forum, the things I purchased were very obviously wrong and not as stated.
In one case, the seller told me to return for a full refund. I sent them back and never heard from him until I made a claim through PayPal after which he tried to get me to rescind the claim as he would "send me a refund as soon as I did". Needless to say I didn't and accelerated the process. Eventually I received the purchase price back from PayPal (who were very decent about the whole thing). However, I am out of pocket the return shipping ($25) and the transaction and currency exchange fees. I filed a separate claim for these to the seller only to be ignored.
In the second case, the seller again offered a refund and we are now trying to sort it out after the returned items were misdirected by USPS! But at least we have an open line of communication.
Both sellers are active on this forum.
I chose not to 'out' the first seller, but did add a cautionary note of "caveat emptor" on a thread he started. This was, I thought, fair.
I know that I really value the knowledge and 'parts bin' that this forum provides and hope that, through good, open communication, we can continue to operate honourably!
I hope this situation gets resolved well...