I [don't] hate E-Bay (was Cromemco 68000 on ebay)

I am a "Power Seller" with over 10 years on E-Bay, probably 5,000 transactions, but I am not a business and most of my activity is buying, not selling. First, re: "I hate [ebay] because it defrauded me in 2005", that is, in all probability, BS. E-Bay didn't defraud you, the other party (buyer or seller) did. E-Bay is not a principal to the transaction; it is merely a venue for bringing buyers and sellers together. Second, IF YOU KNOW HOW TO USE E-BAY, it is EXTREMELY safe. Most of the sellers (and buyers) are honest, more than 99% I'd say. If you pay through Pay-Pal with a credit card, you have about 3 levels of protection even if the seller is fraudulent: E-Bay, Pay-Pal and your credit card company. You do have to know how to use the various systems to protect yourself; you can look at a seller's history, and about the comments that people who have dealt with that seller previously have left about their transactions. If you educate yourself about how to use E-Bay, it is quite safe. Is it perfectly, totally safe? No, of course not (neither is any other marketplace), and getting issues resolved when they do occur can be a hassle and can take months and require that you be persistent and well organized. There are a surprising number of people with an aversion to E-Bay. That's their loss, because it's one of the greatest things that the Internet has brought us, both as buyers and as sellers. Barry Watzman