I am distressed about the minimum 4.3 in each category, which works out to 86% approval rating on a 5-point scale. I have seen sellers begging potential customers to give 5 stars, pointing out that eBay punishes those with ratings even in the 4-star range.

Here's the danger that lurks: if you sell overseas and use standard delivery methods (which is airmail now), it can still take 2 to 3 weeks for a package to arrive (not counting Italy, which is often measured in months) and buyers can be quick to blame that on the seller rather than the post office or customs. If you try a faster method - which eBay and PayPal actually encourage - you get slammed for high postage rates. I have had buyers beg me to send coins by regular air mail rather than priority mail international, but then I lose the tracking and I can't verify to Paypal that I actually sent the package. I get slammed on those "shipping costs" reviews by my international customers (fortunately the domestic buyers outweigh them).

Sellers are also increasing shipping or handling fees to accommodate the fee increases. EBay allows the addition of a "reasonable" handling fee, although they are taking steps to cap shipping fees. Those sellers also risk getting 4 stars (or lower). I have seen sellers get slammed for adding $1.30 for insurance, which was fully disclosed in their listings.

EBay wants to get rid of the bottom 4% of sellers, which may be fine if they are all crooks or totally inept. But then that creates another bottom 4%. And meanwhile anyone who doesn't meet the seller requirements and is banned will be banned forever. In a downward economy, eBay is taking voluntary steps to further reduce its seller force and therefore its earnings.