How to protect myself on a PayPal transaction?

I purchased a strip of LED lights off ebay (for my bed lights) and got a great deal - only $4.25 shipped for a 3' section. It was one of those auctions that started at $.01 but didn't get up too high. It was Buy It Now for $15.

Anyway, he does not have any other auctions for a white 3' strip but I need one more. I sent him an email (through ebay) and offered $10 for another strip. Here is the email transaction:

From me to him:

The response (NOT SENT THROUGH EBAY - direct email response):

What should I do? How do I protect my $10. If I send it, he can just not send anything and there is nothing I can do about it. Does Paypal protect me?

 

As far as I know, your options are to either ask him to make a new Buy It Now auction that you go ahead and win, or just chance it, since it's only $10

 

I'd walk away from it.
Be patient and wait for another auction to come up.

Paypal can protect you to a certain extent.....you're better off using a credit card directly because your credit card can protect you more than paypal can (atleast that's my experience).

I ordered $50 worth of clothing through this one website that looked pretty legite and popular. I used paypal to pay for it. The product never came and I e-mailed several times and even tried to call their business phone. Next thing I know, the website disappeared completely. I get this e-mail that states they 'Went out of business' and I needed to contact my credit card to get a refund. Well....the e-mail was somewhat fishy the way it was worded and I didn't use a credit card (should have). I put a claim in with paypal ...and they TRIED to locate the person via their paypal account information and were totally unsuccessful.
I even sent in a claim with the BBB. Nobody was able to track this business and get my money back. I lost $50.

I still use paypal a lot...and have successful transactions all the time. The above - was the first loss of money I've ever expereinced while purchasing online. My husband and I purchase a lot online!!