We bought a car off Ebay (probably our first mistake) and it turned out that there were problems with it. Arizonacarnut was the seller. He is a dealer in Arizona. When we tried to get him to make good, he refused so we posted negative feedback. So instead of trying to make good, he employed some outfit called Squaretrade, paid them some money, and they somehow got the negative feedback removed. Lately, we have noticed he did the same thing to someone else. So as long as there are outfits that can get negative feedback removed from Ebay, then there is no leval playing field.
I'm sorry to hear of your poor experiences. I purchased the stoatmobile on eBay, and it is the best car I've owned in my life, I got a fantastic deal on it and the seller was a courteous gent all 'round, so both ends of the spectrum do indeed exist, and by mentioning my opposite impressions I don't mean to imply that I'm trying to diminish yours....there are definitely some bad actors out there, which is to be expected anywhere where a buck can be made.
Thank you for your insights on SquareTrade....I have purchased items from sellers advertising their affiliation with this service but I wasn't aware that feedback removal was part of what they do.