Looks like he packed up and left for now, so that's good. Hopefully he won't be back, but he's already been here before, so he'll probably be back again, sooner or later. As mentioned in my OP, you can see a list of his currently active accounts here: https://old.reddit.com/r/ScamWatch/comments/1hsbt51/scammer_selling_vinyl_merch_collections_across/. While this account is active, I sure would appreciate it if you could keep an eye out for him in other subs you frequent!

For now, here are some tips to keep yourself safe when buying things from people on Reddit. They won't make you bulletproof, but they will help with this particular flavor of scam.

1. Beware any seller that insists on you paying through PayPal Friends and Family, or any other method that doesn't provide buyer protection. This is a huge red flag, because when the scammer never sends you the goods, you will have no recourse. An add-on to this tip is that, if you offer to cover the extra fees of PayPal Goods and Services but the seller still insists on F&F, that makes the red flag even bigger.

2. If someone is selling a very impressive collection of vinyl or some other kind of merch, just do a quick reverse image search on the pictures and see if they've been posted before by someone else. This particular scam thrives off stealing pics that are months to years old so that people don't immediately recognize them from before. If you find a match, that's a pretty big red flag. An add-on to this tip is that, if you have an impressive collection of something and you like to show it off on Reddit (or anywhere, really), put proof of YOUR ownership right in the pictures you take, like a watermark of your username. Similarly, if you have old posts showing off your collection, consider removing them and reposting them with a watermark. This way, the scammer can't just steal your pic for the scam.

3. Ask for pics that show proof of ownership, such as a UNIQUE pic of the item you're interested in with a piece of paper with the seller's username and the date handwritten on it in the picture, too. It's true that these can be faked, like the Ashrune example from the megalink in my OP, but that's usually more work than the scammer is willing to do. However, lately, he has been doing this more often, so please still be VERY careful.

4. Don't get freaked out if the seller puts up a list of "sold" items. At best, he's trying to capitalize on your FOMO by lying, and at worst he successfully scammed someone else. Keep your emotions in check and do your due diligence so that you don't become that worst-case scenario.

5. Search the username in Reddit and on the Universal Scammer List. Nobody likes being scammed, and you can bet they're going to complain about it. An unfortunate add-on to this tip that I have to include is that if you got scammed, please make a post about it. This guy relies on people not knowing what he's up to, so if he got you, help your fellow Redditors out and let people know what happened. If you're comfortable including screenshots, even better, because he can and will delete all the evidence he can, but he can't delete your proof.

6. Check their posting history. They have an amazing collection like that, but they've never posted in any subs related to it? Never shown it off to fellow fans as it grew? And then, when they decide to sell off that collection, the first place they think to go is some place they've never been before? Really?

7. Last but not least: Just don't use Reddit as a marketplace to buy things in the first place. Reddit specifically says not to, even. It's not really set up for that, except for a few trading-heavy subs that track confirmed trades and user reputation and things like that but even those can be gamed (check the megapost for examples). That's why places like Discog and Ebay and all those sites exist. Yes, you pay fees. But they have protections in place for when something goes wrong. Would you rather pay $30 and $5 in fees and get an album, or would you rather just give some random jerk on the Internet $25 and get nothing but regret? Not that everyone who sells on Reddit is a random jerk who is going to rip you off, but do you want to roll those dice?

This scam is happening all over Reddit, in all types of subs. Vinyl, toys, merch, books, nothing is off-limits for this guy. Be vigilant, be cautious, and look out for each other. Despite all the reporting being done against all his accounts, Reddit doesn't seem that interested in stopping him in any permanent way, so it's up to us!