I tried ebay once and managed to end up emailing one-on-one with the seller in a remote town in Texas. I confirmed the money order was on it's way, and the goods arrived the next day! He'd sent them ahead of me posting the check to minimise the delay. I was sure impressed.

What he did advise me about ebay, is that emails are 'cheap' and its easy to set up shop, get closed down, move on, get another name and so on. He advised against too much emphasis on negative feedback but did emphasise that you get to know the regular sellers.

I for one, have negative feeback as a buyer. That was simply down to the problem that the seller never returned any calls or emails so that I could arrange to deposit funds and so on. It was not my fault, but is it fair that I'm branded a slime-ball because of that?

What do you think?