Hi all!
I wanted to share my experience with a new (at least new to me) type of eBay scam with you so that you don't repeat my mistakes.
eBay does not offer purchase protection on certain kinds of stuff like real estate, vouchers, or businesses. Unfortunately, on localized eBay sites (e.g., ebay.de as in my case), the categorization of the item does not always show and the "Not eligible for eBay purchase protection programs" in a tiny font is easily missed if you find an awesome piece of equipment with a irresistible 'buy it now' price. I fell into that trap and after I paid for the item, the seller activated his 'on vacation' notice and a couple of days after that, his account was deleted.
I only found out about that because I wanted to check one of the pictures and could not access the listing anymore. I was unable to file a regular complaint ("please contact the seller first" - yeah, great...) or cancel the purchase since it's not covered by the protection. I finally managed to 'return' the item and got my money back but I don't know if I just was lucky and had a really nice chap working on my ticket, saving me lots of back and forth with the rather pedantic eBay 'customer service'.
I happened to find another listing with the same scam and took a screenshot (see below). I tried to report it as fraudulent but, unfortunately, someone did already hit the button

TL;DR: always check, if the item you want to buy on eBay has purchase protection!
Take care,
Schenkenstein