dude, you have some misinformation there.

sellers will still be able to leave FB, just no negs or neutrals. but, in effort to reduce buyer scams, ebay will also increase bidder requirements sellers can set. also, a mechanism will be in place so sellers CAN dispute unfounded negs.

a perfect system? far from it. doom & gloom? not even close. an excellent resource for ebays news is over on AuctionBytes (http://www.auctionbytes.com)

the reason for the majority of changes are to repair the damage to the ebay brand done by Megholio & her minions.

weeding out problematic sellers is the goal. you know like the op's seller. the best advice given to the op is to file a SNAD (significantly not as described) complaint. if that fails then if you always fund payments via credit cards buyer's have that added protection. it stinks when probs come around and they can be frustrating, but things usually work out.

i never advise folks buy compters or electronics on ebay unless they REALLY know what they are bidding on AND research the seller, fully reading the auction term. i have bought two of my last three laptops on ebay (one even from a seller in Canookia). excellent deals both times. bought the one iin the middle direct from dell and got completely hosed. so, it does happen elsewhere too. but, it does happen waaaaay to frequently on ebay because of slimeball sellers.

mail order has always been spooky, ebay can be also, but if you use good judgement it's pretty safe.