There was a time when eBay was king but those days seem long behind us. eBay has gone from a competitive business to just a business with their own interests placed well ahead of the customers! Sure, they talk a good game and appear "customer service" oriented, but they are far from it! With all of the things eBay does to secure new buyers and sellers, like eBay bucks and guarantee buyer protection, the experience continues to get worse and worse. One should also ask why eBay felt the need to implement these features... Is it because eBay saw the need to protect buyers and guarantee their purchases when those purchases went sideways? Well, I am a huge purchaser on eBay, but not a seller because I sell privately. I am glad I sell privately because I think my headaches would be doubled if I did twice the business on eBay. The biggest problem I have is that eBay allows sellers who have consistently bad reviews to continue doing business. There seems to be no process, no matter what they say, that punishes sellers who are unscrupulous and clearly scam buyers. I had a seller scam me out of a $85.00 purchase, leave a "false positive review" (meaning that the he used the positive feed back medium in order to leave me a bad comment) and he cussed me out via email, which eBay read and this guy is still selling! I also made a recent purchase from a guy who had 1,759 negative feedback remarks. How is a seller who is screwing people over that badly, and that clearly, still being allowed to conduct business on ebay? Why leave any feedback if it does nothing punitively to the seller? Sure feedback helps as a warning to buyers, but sometimes I move to quickly and I don't check seller feedback until it's too late. Scammers have also figured out ways to get your money and keep it and eBay can do little or nothing to prevent this either. Buyer protection is set up so that you have to wait to have eBay pay you back too! What I think needs to happen is this... First, buyers should be allowed to block any sellers who they believe are conducting shady business or have actually conducted shady business. Seller ratings should be posted right next to their name REALLY BIG AND PROMINENTLY, and on the item they are selling also, so you know what you are getting immediately. This way, if I am moving to quick through a transaction, it won't matter because the seller selling practices will be broken down clearly and obviously so I cannot miss it! Presentation is huge and if an item is being presented in a manner where it says "Pioneer Turntable being offered by GRADE D seller" I guarantee that seller would do everything that they could to change that D to an A! I purchased an item from a seller who was really bad and because I rushed the transaction a few months later, purchased from the same guy! Bad experience feedback should give one the IMMEDIATE option to block that seller! If was given the option to block that seller I would have never gave him my business again, and worse, put myself at risk of a bad experience which I did have the second time too. The end result in changes like this will be that sellers will do everything in their power not to get blocked and to maintain a high rating next to their name. In NYC food places have "A to D" rating outside the business doors so you know what you're getting before you eat their food. If eBay did something similar then you will know what you're getting before you do business with every seller. My days doing business on eBay are surely numbered. It's only a matter of time before I don't visit the site at all. I will probably keep the account open, but I am sure that I will simply not buy from there anymore, or keep it open until I start getting annoying emails telling me that they "miss me and want me to come back" and that's when I will delete the account for good! I realize that I don't need them as much as I used to and the headaches, at least right now, far outweigh the benefits. Etsy has been my go-to site on my last 5 purchases and seems like the way to go for now. Ebay needs to get rid of gimmicks and do things that truly protect the buyers. Clarity and real punitive action is the first step. Full disclosure! Show the buyer, immediately who the seller is and how that seller does business! Believe me, do this and things will straighten themselves out in the end!