Buying from an ebay seller outside of ebay. is it safe if you use paypal?

c4dreams · 2013-04-15T18:38:09.000Z

I was the second highest bidder on an ebay auction for a large lot of Legos, and the seller states the winner has backed out. He is offering me to buy the lot outside of ebay via paypal, or to do a "second chance offer." He has good feedback with plenty of sales and good history. If we do it outside of ebay he avoids the 10% fees amounting to $80 (which I'm assuming he'll pass some of that savings on to me). I'd rather do that than do the second chance offer. My question is this: is it safe to just use paypal to buy from this person? Can I still get a refund if it doesnt work out, even though I wouldn't be using ebay? Or should I play it safe and do the "second chance offer" and let feEbay get another $80?