Although the new policy is not perfect, I can understand the reasoning. As primarily a buyer since 1998, I have always felt that sellers on eBay held all of the cards. They describe items to suit there whims, they dictate s/h costs, they dictate payment terms. They do not have to send the item until they are satisfied with the payment (if at all). If a buyer flakes out and doesn't pay, it is inconvenient for the seller, even a PITA, but they still have their item. When a transaction goes south for me as a buyer, I either have received a defective item, an item not as described, or I didn't receive the item at all. In any case I am out the money I paid for the item. Until the change in the feedback system, the seller even had control of feedback. They would just wait until feedback is left from the buyer, before posting feedback. With the new system, eBay seems to be acknowledging that the whole transaction process is drastically slanted toward the seller, and there is a need to provide some recourse for the buyer. It is not a perfect system, and may in fact create more problems than it addresses. But unless a transaction is handled through an escrow service, the buyer is completely at the mercy of the seller. Now, the buyer has control of at least a small part of the transaction.
Kevin Ko
Eugene, OR USA