Nope, you don't have to trust at all. Granted I'm not a huge seller/reseller....but I've got a whole set of personal rules for buying used/online/CL. Won't meet anywhere but your house/business, won't even look at repaints, check stolen bike lists, etc...

But really my only rule is (and the above rules stem from this one)- If I got to ask questions like the OP's question, then there IS a reason for concern.

Well, we're supposed to have some fun doing this. It is a hobby after all and I don't feel like running a background check or checking stolen bike lists when I want to buy a bike. For me, it's more about getting a good vibe from a seller, and in the end, this seller gave off a bad one. That was my only turn-off to this frame.

But that's cool, we all have our way's in this hobby...

hah that's funny cause I have the opposite rule when selling bikes: i never meet at my house. don't need people from CL knowing where i live and that i have valuable items that could be easily stolen & resold

The seller's response made it clear he doesn't want any "tire kickers".. so oblige him and avoid his sales

And because people have this attitude.....bikes are stolen and resold, often blatantly.

But hey who can argue with a "vibe" from an online correspondence.

I got a good laugh out of that, and yes, I do believe you qualify as a "fixie".

I edited my response.

It's not worth the argument. Have a nice life....

I've dealt with tracking down stolen bikes for about 20 years and it's best to take each transaction on it's own "vibe". First it is rare that someone even knows the seial number of their bike (I've found that victims losing $200-300 bikes are more prone to know the serial number than those costing $1000s). Also I would never meet anyone at my house; I also don't understand hosting garage/yard sales but I'm pretty paranoid about prople knowing were I live. Saying this, there are a number of red flags with the ebay seller. First is the answer to the OP's question; I don't know any bike restorer that doesn't have before and after pictures; it's to show the quality of their work. There is also the seller, while having 100% positive feedback for 174 auctions, but with only 2 of those was a seller. Finally the seller says; I have been restoring bikes for 15 years and now focus exclusively on Classic Italian Steel Frame-Sets. Many other brands and sizes available; again, no before pictures and the Basso is the first and only bike frame he has put up for auction since 1999! That is an bad vibe one can articulate without meeting the person.

Just to chime in (with regard to the earlier question of what's under the paint), even a cheap powder coating job usually includes media blasting to remove the old paint, dirt, & rust before new color goes on. There are outfits around here (PDX) that will do the lot- with an extra UV-protecting clear coat- for only $100 and I'm sure that's not unusual. That's cheap enough that I can't really see why anyone would do one without the other. Considering that, why wouldn't someone go the whole 9 yards on a first-class restoration (as this one appears to be)?

Caveat Emptor, dude: you really have to look at it like Sherlock Holmes when buying or selling; unfortunately most of the time, a 'vibe' is all you have to go on- unless of course you either fully remember or carry the National Stolen Bikes Registry with you.

For the ethical, the best solution to set your minds at ease is to check any newly purchased frames against the Registry and- if you're truly ethical- you'll return anything found to be stolen to it's original owner, despite how much you've paid for it.