Hey!
I bought BTC with Neteller on Localbitcoins, I sent $336USD which was $373AUD - I was sent 0.29468BTC. When I check the cost of the BTC it is only $172USD in value, does it make sense?
localbitcoins sellers sometimes have high premiums. especially if using web dollar services that can chargeback. normally people search the listings for the best price first.
then they type in the dollar amount they want to send, and localbitcoins calculates the total you will receive. this value, when making the offer is locked in, so the other party cant accept the offer unless they have available BTC to be put into escrow.
basically if you were expecting half a bitcoin, localbitcoins calculator would have told you the total before the offer, and then when making the offer the bitcoins would be locked in.. so the other side cant just send you random smaller amounts that you did not expect.