A man who went to pay for a car he had bought on eBay was robbed at gunpoint by the person selling the car, according to reports.

23-year-old Shahzad Ali Shah from Crawley, West Sussex, was told by the seller of a Mercedes Benz Kompressor C180 that a cash purchase would be neccessary, the Daily Mirror reported.

Mr Ali Shah told the newspaper: ‘The man said if I paid in cash he would not offer it to anyone else.’

eBay is an online auction website for registered users to buy and sell goods.

Payment methods include cheque, postal order, and the online payment system PayPal, but sometimes buyers meet sellers in person.

The student agreed to meet the seller in east London, on the day that sale of £5,500 was agreed.

He was accompanied by his mother, Shahnaz, who was funding the purchase, and his brother-in-law, Shaharayar Talpur.

When they arrived, four men got out of a Vauxhall Corsa and surrounded the car, the newspaper reported.

Mr Ali Shah said an Asian man produced a gun and took their car keys and demanded the money for the Mercedes.

Barking and Dagenham CID are investigating the incident. No arrests have yet been made.

The Daily Mirror reported that the gang stole £5,580 and a purse, credit cards and mobile phone belonging to Mr Ali Shah’s mother.

An eBay spokesman said it was the first incident of this kind involving users of the site that he was aware of.

An eBay spokesman said: ‘A car is sold every two minutes on eBayMotors.co.uk.

Posted: 08|30|06 at 7:07 am. Filed under: UK News.