They raised the price of selling outside a store so much about a year ago that most of the bargain basement sellers had to quit.

Ok, that explains the howling I'd been hearing. I only (used to) lurk in a specialized eBay domain (brass musical instruments), but there (especially on the trumpet page) about 19 of every 10 ads is from a crass outfit selling pseudo-trumpet garbage. Those thieves are still there, but several of the marketers of high-end refinished horns are gone. Seems like that's the wrong way 'round.

You have a legit point~ but I think for some people, it depends on what you're looking for~

For me personally? I got my '68 mustang for an early Christmas gift the first part of November, so I've spent my waking moments since then tweaking the little things on it~ ya know, like making sure every single solitary item attached to that car is vintage stock '68.

I can go on Ebay, type in "68 Mustang parts", and look for specific things I want, like emblems, parts, NOS parts, that some of those 'stores' are selling~ especially since I don't feel like junk-yard fishing in 10 degree winter weather........ I've ordered every mustang catalog coming and going, and so far, every single thing I've purchased is 20% to 35% of what I'd pay out of the catalog~ even S/H is cheaper, but that's the only type of items I'll do this with.

You have to look at it like going into Big Lots (a chain of close out stores)........pick and choose, know what you're going after, and look it over carefully~ if you have a 'gut' feeling that you shouldn't get it, move on~ you'll find what you want somewhere else eventually~

And ALWAYS, ALWAYS look at the Ebay seller's feedback score~ I won't buy from anyone with a really low number, I always look at the positive-versus-negative comments, and see when they were posted, if they were posted over a long period of time, or all in a small period of a month or 3............and in most cases, at least the 'power sellers' with huge positive feedback scores aren't as liable to screw you in the backside...........as hard.

I've made several mustang purchases from there, and only one time early on in my virgin Ebay days, did I get sort of screwed over, and that was related to a laptop. I had laptop parts here, and found one that I could use as an experiment to rebuild, and when I got it, let's just say, I was HOT~ there were a few things wrong with it that weren't stated, I made out a complaint form, and when all was said and done, Paypal said they would only give me less than half what I paid all total, less S/H. Which, it was more principle than anything, but it was just another instance of 'buyer beware'. And after that, they sent me a '10 dollar off' coupon for a purchase, so I thought, 'cool, another mustang part'. And I accidently deleted it instead of a damn spoof email of theirs, and when I asked if they could resend so I could use the code on something, both Ebay AND Paypal denied ever sending it to me~ WTF? What did I do, have a dream that the cheap bastards sent it to me? If I was gonna make it up, I would go for a freakin' amount worth while.

I loathe stupidity.

Needless to say, my biggest gripe is with Paypal, personally. I understand that those online stores, and places such as Ebay/Paypal are all in it for the money~ 99.999% of online stores are.

But they always find a way to worm out of their little phrases of '20,000 dollar buyer protection' crap, and I remember a year or so ago when they redid their fees for sellers. You're right~ a lot of small 'junk' sellers aren't around anymore~ shopgoodwill.com has things, but I only have dealt with them in the antique department. At least some of my money for Goodwill goes toward good instead of Ebay Evil~