Ebay sellers

1. Read the description. It's there for a reason. The seller is
supposed to include full details and any flaws that would affect
value, appreciation or usability of the item. (if it's a Chinese crap
seller, beware and doubly so if they're actually in China.)

2. If the seller has high volume and feedback under 99.9%, REALLY
check the feedback for the reason for the negs. Chances are you'll
find other buyers who ran into similar problems. Hit the back button
ASAP.

3. If the English in the listing looks like it's translated from
Chinese, RUN the other way. It's often a Chinese seller, and a lot of
Chinese-sold electronics are junk. Glass beads and the like are fine -
no one fakes glass.

4. Buy electronic components from a reputable dealer with an off-Ebay
store. Folks like Tiger Direct have a good reputation for a reason.
Otherwise, head for the small mom and pop sellers who know what
they're selling.

I'm an Ebay seller myself, but most things I sell are older than I am
or close to it. The part about a seller being able to trash a buyer's
rating makes no sense. Sellers can no longer leave negatives for
buyers, even when they earn them in spades. The most we can do is
complain to Ebay and file Non-paying bidder alerts on those who bid
and win and then don't pay. Buyers can leave neutrals (almost as bad
as a neg) for no good reason at all, and negatives with no real reason
and sellers can't do a thing about it. Ebay won't remove unjustified
bad feedback unless a buyer violates a specific rule. Profanity and
threats get pulled, but complaints about things beyond the seller's
control (shipping times, monitor color differences, failure to read
the description etc) won't.

They already hold payments on electronics and for low volume sellers.
If a buyer doesn't like his purchase, he can force a return even if
the seller did nothing wrong and the seller has to eat it. We often
don't get our fees back and sometimes don't get the item back in the
condition it went out in, if it gets returned at all. We end up out
both item and money. My one and only negative out of thousands of
transactions is from a buyer who purchsed a vintage beaded item, BROKE
IT HERSELF, and then negged me because I refused to either send a
partial refund (against stated policy) or pay return shipping from
Canada. Sorry. NO. Not happening.

I hate the scam artists and junk sellers worse than you do. They
directly affect my ability to conduct business and hurt my income.
However, any protections stripped from them are also going to be
stripped from me, and it's hard enough out there now.

Paypal does hold funds for 21 days on high risk items such as
electronics. They also hold funds if the seller is new to eBay. Your
suggestions are unrealistic. eBay really has no way of policing their
sellers. If they hold everyone's money in escrow, they will go out of
business fast. No seller is going to want to ship an item at their own
expense before they've been paid.

If a buyer is unhappy with a purchase, all they have to do is contact
the seller and if that doesn't resolve the issue, file a claim with
ebay. ebay almost always sides with the buyer. If the item is
misrepresented, ebay will sometimes pay for return shipping.

When you do a dispte through ebay they will pay shipping if you win.
They will email you the shipping label to print out.

And sellers cant leave negative feedback so dont worry about that.
And if they do leave a negative comment you can get it removed after
you win the dispute.