I'm not sure why I'm defending this seller but whatever consumer protection program he offers is no different than any other seller of used goods on ebay.

The reality is ebay favours buyers over sellers and there is plenty of protection available through ebay, paypal and your CC card company. The transactions he has completed are public and there are numerous transactions with US buyers. If one was concerned you could contact a few of his US buyers and ask them how their transaction went.

It doesn't smell like a scam to me. I've bought one non-bike item for around $800 from Germany once and didn't have any problems.