Jim, perhaps we may resolve this without any bloodshed.

Damn. :)

As an attorney, I'm sure you advocate the position of your client, i.e. the one who pays you. Although you try to be fair I'm sure, when there's a hair to be split, you must split it in favor of your client.

Sellers pay eBay fees. Sellers are eBay's clients, bidders are the customers of eBay's clients. Bidders are neither customers nor clients of eBay, they are "users" of the service. No bidder ever had a transaction with eBay, unless they bought a cap or T-shirt at the eBay online store.

eBay's duty is first and foremost to it's clients, while at the same time, it must strive to be fair to it's users. It is a given that eBay will not be able to implement any policy that will be seen as fair to 100% of its' users, or 100% of it's clients. Some sellers, and some bidders are, by their own admission, unreasonable.

Russell Baker, 20th Century American columnist said, "Usually, terrible things that are done with the excuse that progress requires them are not really progress at all, but just terrible things."

So, Jim, do you play poker?