My comments seem to have struck a nerve. Not intended. There was a discussion about buying cars on e-bay and I gave the one experience of a car that I saw listed on e-bay and had the opportunity to look at in person.
As for the feedback system on e-bay, I think that it is useful, but not totally reliable. I purchased a repair manual on disc for a 1995 Suburban. I was about to completely rebuild the front end and wanted any specs. and part numbers that I could get. After three or four weeks they sent me a disc which was a generic how to "work on cars" manual, absolutely not what was advertised. I posted a negative comment and the vendor came back to me and pleaded that his lively hood was dependent on his e-bay sales and that he would refund my money IF I removed my comment. I removed the comment and several weeks later received a refund. Nobody knew that this vendor was misrepresenting items that he was selling because I had removed my comment.
More recently I purchased a hub for my 1969 Imperial. One of the bolt holes that holds the braking disc on is bent and cross threaded. If you put a bolt in it sits at about a 15 degree angle. I contacted the vendor and he said that he was not aware of this problem? He said that he had others and would replace it. However, since the shipping was 40% of the cost of the item, I chose to keep the one that I had. Again no negative comment.
I have also had many completely successful purchases on e-bay, items that I would not otherwise have been able to find.
I believe that the latest estimates are that about 500,000 people make their livings entirely from sales on e-bay. E-bay provides a valuable service and if it did not work as expected most of the time, people would not continue to use it. However, as with everything in life, Caveat Emptor.
