I've had more than 99% of my ebay transactions (as a buyer) be perfectly smooth. In over 300 transactions in the last thirteen years, I think I've left other-than-positive feedback a total of thee times. The most recent one was someone selling a Metz TTL SCA module. It was described as in working order, with "some wear" on the cord. There were pictures posted of it, in which no wear was visible. I figured he was just being conservative in the description, kinda like how KEH's "Bargain" is usually everyone elses EX+. The cord arrived, and was non-functional. The module that required batteries would not power on, even with fresh batteries, and the wires were more than worn- the insulation at both ends was flaking off in big chunks. I contacted the seller to let him know it was mis-represented, and would like a refund. His response was rude, and insisted that it had to be the same item in the pictures - something to the effect of "how could I have sent you something that wasn't in the photo?" Gee... I dunno- scour ebay for photos of other items, then steal their photo?. I had to go to Ebay dispute resolution, they ordered a refund, and then the seller dragged his feet on sending the refund. When I left him negative feedback, he had the nerve to contact me asking me to rescind my negative because he depended on having a 100% feedback for his business.
I had another transaction which could have been far more disastrous than that one (the cord was less than $30 with shipping). I had bought a Rollei 2.8C that was described as the seller had tested it, being in good working order, and having "minor" "marks" on the front element of the taking lens. From the photos, it looked like the coating loss on the other Rollei I have, so I figured it would be fine with a CLA. The camera arrived with a 30-year old roll of Verichrome Pan in the body, half exposed, the film transport and shutter release erratic and semi-functional, the shutter and aperture controls stiffer than an arthritic knee, and the front element looked like it tried to do a mating dance with a belt sander. In this case though, even though I felt like the seller blatantly mis-represented the camera, the ebay dispute process went smoothly, he accepted the return, and promptly refunded my money, so I left him positive feedback.
In my experience, the only folks who I've had any issue with, and felt the need to appeal to Ebay's customer support policies for, have been those having something to hide. It's funny though that both those instances were in the last 6 months. So as a buyer I'm glad they've gone to the policy they have, or I would have been screwed. It is getting pretty easy to spot the auctions to avoid though - if they use anything other than clear language to describe the item or their policies regarding the transaction, skip it and move on. If they don't have good, clear, decent sized pictures, skip it and move on. If they don't willingly offer a return/exchange, skip it and move on. I was going to have a caveat to that policy of "consider it if the item is sufficiently rare/exotic/hard-to-find-in-that-condition", but after the above two incidents, it's now a firm NEVER. But as long as you set the rules by which you'll bid/purchase and stick to them diligently, there should be no problem. Then you'll not have your expectations disappointed.
