Dave,

I agree that sellers with a thousand or more transactons with no negatives present a statistical improbability. I always wonder if they are letting the flakes and deadbeats run over them out of fear of retaliation?

On the other hand, I've got someting like 2,000+ transactions completed, and only one negative in my file, although I've left 20 or so negatives, mostly to deadbeat bidders. I attribute it to two things:

1. Compared to sellers who deal in general merchandise, or items that appeal to a younger, less mature crowd, I find that buyers of antique gambling chips tend to be more responsible citizens, less likely to engage in "thrill" bidding, "impulse" bidding, or suffer from buyer's remorse. I count myself lucky.

2. I have a tendancy to communicate with pleasant but firm, non-confrontational email (unlike some of my posts here) with my "problem" customers. I firmly believe, as eBay does, that most problem transactions are more the result of communication breakdown, rather than imherently unresolvable issues.

For instance, If I tell a seller I have a problem with the item, and that he's a crook who's ripped me off, and demand a refund, how can he issue that refund with admitting he's a crook? On the other hand, if I say we have a difference of opinion about the item or its' description, and I want both of our reputations to remain intact, he gets to be a hero by agreeing to the refund. I have swapped positives with sellers who grossly misrepresented an item, out of ignorance, but took me up on my offer to be fair about it.

With deadbeat bidders, I never send out a NPB without first emailing them and letting them know that I'm doing it simply so I can recover my eBay fees, not to punish them. I find that when they know that email from eBay is coming in advance, they are much less likely to whip out a retaliatory negative. Then, once I've received my refund of eBay fees, I email the bidder and telling him that I'm leaving a negative for his failure to honor his bid in 48 hours, and that if he takes issue with that, he should email me so we can discuss it further.

It's worked like a charm so far, knock on wood.