Hi:
I spoke to him about this bass last night: he said he didn’t want to ship where I am (Japan), and asked for local pickup because he was afraid of it getting lost in the mail, which I inferred as meaning: “not wanting trouble if it is stolen.”
I can very much understand his point there: in hand means no misunderstandings.
I don’t think he’s dishonest (my gut feeling), but something of this price and demand on Reverb I would definitely would be disappointed hearing that.