[RTuesday]

As I said, both offers on the ebay use a picture of a physical gt-sim, and show similar per-min rates, but have different terms, i.e. they seem to have negotiated a different deal (or simply don't understand what they are trying to sell).

The real gt-sim (where you got your email reply from) of course doesn't have a starter balance, because it is postpaid. They take the money once a month from the credit card (which has worked fine for me so far).

I don't see any reason to buy from the ebay offer unless you really want prepaid (where it's not clear where you can get refills from) or want to pay 30 eur a month every month just to get free incoming in more countries (United Mobile and 09 are probably more suitable).