Help with scam potential scam on eBay?

So I was on eBay and found an iPhone for $280 and I thought it was too good to pass up. Messaged the seller and he said he used cash app for all transacations for him to get full profit. I eventually caved and said I'd give him the money (against my better judgement). Anyways he's answered all my questions and told me cash app is fine and has good support center. He apparently sent the package but didn't send a link yet for tracking. He said his girlfriend had brought it for shipping. I've gave me a window to expect it. My question is if he fizzles away what do I do? Who do I contact? Can I get my money back? It's embarassing. This is why I don't use eBay I'm so not knowledgeable about these types of stuff.

My guess is that you'll never see your money or the phone you think you bought, sorry.

No one is going to give you back your money.

Since you didn't pay through Ebay, they won't help you. You can contact your local police and file charges, but there's not much hope of anything coming of that. Using the cash app means you were scammed and will never see your money or the phone. Ebay offers some protection, which is why they didn't want to use it.

Something too good to be true is almost always not true. If he fizzles away you kick yourself and learn from it. No, you wouldn't get your money back. This might be legit, but has an awful lot of red flags that say probable scam.

Just because there isn't a tracking number doesn't mean he did not send the item. Not everything comes with a tracking number. Some things, it costs extra to have it tracked. Be patient. I use Paypal only on eBay purchases and I don't know anything about the app you used but as long as it is a legitimate app, there should be recourse if it never arrives. Give it a reasonable amount of time.

He broke eBay rules (telling you it was because he didn't want to pay the fees) and now you wonder?

This is why you use PayPal. You don't receive the item, you file a claim with eBay, and they refund your money. You didn't, thus if this is fraud, you won't get the phone nor your money back. You are SOL.

You have been snookered! Since you both broke the rules ebay is not going to protect you now. I would have sent ebay a copy of the email requesting this arrangement and walked away.

You got screwed by doing an offsite transaction. EBay won't help you as you breached their terms by not paying through Ebay. There's no phone and no way to get your money back.
If something is being sold on Ebay you ONLY pay on Ebay or you have no protection. Anyone asking you to pay them directly instead of on Ebay is always going to be a scammer

Use unifiedpayroll to avoid scam.