Just wanting to share my experience of online buying through ebay and gumtree.
I buy quite a lot of stuff for my projects, of which interstate.
On two occurrences i made purchases only to be outright lied to with no recourse
First item was a nose panel through ebay, described as mint, paid $500 and when received, both sides corners had been stoved in and filled with bog. Seller couldnt give a s***!
Second item bought just a week ago was a torana lh lx rack bought from FRANK IN GEELONG. When i asked about the condition, the rack described with having a piece of the casting broken off on the mount and not seen when covered with mounting rubber. This was correct, but what FRANK didnt tell me was that the centre tube was bent and that the right hand alloy casting next to the steering input shaft was half worn away! Clearly this rack cannot repaired.
I contacted FRANK who did not have the decency to respond! I have requested some consideration and extended the benefit of doubt. FRANK has removed his items from Gumtree!
Shall I post FRANK's email address, home address and mobile phone on this forum so as to protect others from this dishonest online seller?
What do you think.

It depends on how much trouble you want to go to. Putting his details up in a public domain opens you up to legal redress.
Sending Guido and Luigi around to enquire as to the state of the sellers knee caps is also not a good idea. Calm action will usually achieve more than a knee jerk dummy spit.

If you are really sure that what was represented to you was false, you need to be able to prove it. A copy of the ad and any subsequent emails, or even notes taken from phone conversations are good ammo to have.
I repeat, if you are SURE there was fraudulent representation of the goods, you have a position from which to seek redress.
Assuming you have exhausted all reasonable attempts to contact the sellers and resolve the matter in a reasonable time, first contact Ebay and Gumtree and submit your proof, including any contact you have had with the seller.
Second, file a complaint at the police station. Your disappointment alone does not constitute fraudulent behaviour on the part of the seller, only a false or misleading advertisement and this is where you need to be sure of your facts. (You might want to consider what "mint" might mean for a 30 year old second hand car part, for example. Do your expectations for what you were getting pass a "reasonableness" test?)
The police may or may not be interested, but at least attempt to file a complaint, and get the complaint numbers.
Third, if you really want your pound of flesh, have a solicitor draft a letter to the sellers advising them of your intention to pursue a civil case in the County Court seeking to recover your losses and costs. Send it by registered mail and see if that shakes the tree up a bit.
Good luck.

The scumbags who deliberately do this rely on the fact that most people will look at the dollar value of the "scam" and once weighing up the time & effort vs what they have lost, won't bother going through all the legal hoop-la to get recourse, and so they get away with it.

Occasionally, someone has the tenacity & motivation to do something about it, and this is where the dodgy sellers come unstuck, as they generally aren't prepared for it.

Good luck with your battle.

Frankdid get back to me said he didnt notice the damage which i find hard to believe, never entertained partial refund, so i have to wear it, which is bulls***!
I have in the past refuNded people who were not happy with the item, in fact i sold a pair of wb stato headlights and the receiver told me one got broken so i partial refunded. I am a Firm believer of doing the right thing, we all love our cars and hobby. So we should do the righty! Obviously some people dont hold the same view!