Posting a Negative feedback on eBay is typically the last straw in a failed transaction. While the original intent of the feedback system was to inform other bidders of satisfactory or unsatisfactory experiences, it has escalated to a "Red-Flag" type system that alerts other ebayers to a possible poor past history or outright theft. It could have been better designed with more than 3 options (like including options for "dead-beat seller/bidder" feedback, a "not-as-advertised" feedback, "poor shipping" feedback, etc).

If the seller had offered to refund your money and pay for shipping both ways, I would not leave a negative feedback. To do so would be almost a slap in the face of a repentent seller who's acknowledged his mistake and is prepared to do almost anything to make you happy (whether he says this outright or not is a different story). If a typical seller gets an email back from a buyer that says the buyer is unhappy, most sellers will do just about anything to resolve the situation by peaceful means. I have posted positive feedback for auctions where the wrong item was shipped to me, but the seller took full responsibility and was willing to pay for return shipping. It was still a positive communication experience, and the seller made a 'positive' effort to resolve the situation. Remember, a Negative feedback in a sellers history will reduce the amount of money he can get for his later auctions due to scared bidders who don't bid at all and bidders who bid conservatively in fear of loosing their money. Personally, I avoid bidding on auctions where the seller has more than 3% negative feedback. One or two bad buyers in the course of 30 or 40 auctions is about par for the course (even I've got one negative in my history).

I would leave a Neutral feedback if the seller used poor packing/shipping methods and the item arrived with damage or unassessable damage (like a camera lens that was poorly packed and would require a colinear to determine if the optics are out of alignment). If the seller offered to pay for return shipping and a refund, I would probably leave him positive feedback.

I would leave Negative feedback in the case of outright theft (no item shipped from seller), a non-paying/no-contact bidder, or shipped the wrong item and refused to acknowledge my attempts to contact him. All other cases would be evaluated as the situations merit. If in doubt, the safest option is to not leave any feedback.

Remember, always pack your items as if they must survive a 4-foot fall without damage and a minimum of 2-inches of impact absorbant material should be used for solid objects (non-media materials). Shipping insurance should be expected to cover incidents where a freight truck backed over the package, etc. Most carriers, including USPS will not pay out an insurance claim due to poor/insufficent packaging. (If you didn't box it right to start with, they won't pay you the shipping insurance.) I once received a camera lense that had been packed by wrapping it inside a plastic grocery bag and putting it in a cardboard box were it bounced around during shipping. The seller wondered why I left him Neutral feedback and suggested that I file an insurance claim if it was broken (which I couldn't because of his poor packaging).

Overall, I've had a lot of great experiences on eBay and continue to do so. Over the past 5 years, I've paid about $500 for camera equipment that would have cost me $2,000+ at a used camera shop. Just last month I bought a Volvo 780 for $1,225 (about $3k to $7k less than what I would have had to pay at a dealer lot). I called the seller several times before bidding and was convinced of his honesty in describing the car (most of the problems were solved with a quick tuneup in his garage before I drove it home).

The only 'bad' experience I've has was when I sold a camera lens of my grandfathers and the buyer refused to pay for it. I left her a negative feedback and then she left one for me and lied about the circumstances. So far, eBay has been a great resource and I get things that I need for about 1% to 60% of their fair market value, and a seller is making money on items that have little or no value to them (and might have otherwise ended up in the trash).

God bless,
Fitz Fitzgerald.
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'87 Blue 245, NA 226K