What kind of item is it? High dollar or budget priced? Was the buyer the only bidder? Could he/she have buyer's remorse?

The biggest problem I have with buying or selling on ebay is not being able to show or look at the item in person in advance.

That said, there is always craigslist and other avenues to sell off excess stuff.

Agreed that about the only thing you can do is offer to refund the money once the item is returned. And hopefully it will be returned in the same condition that it left in and isn't something that the buyer messed up while trying to install it and now wants someone else to cover his/her installation damage.

Anything I sold on ebay in the past was always offered up to in-person inspection and pickup. One car I sold (an old kit car thing) I simply said that if a buyer decided to not want it after seeing in in person then there would be a $50 non-refundable fee to the deal. Up front and honest, nothing hidden, no games, all add up to helping to avoid problems down the road. But some people are never satisfied, and those people should never buy used stuff because they'll always be unhappy with a less than perfect item.

At lease with the newest ebay feedback policies I think it is harder to receive negative feedback. Two-way street though.