The listing in question

Although the picture of the exact item has now been removed by the syshttp://www2.blogger.com/img/gl.link.giftem, I have managed to grab the description thereof as a matter of record.

The image is 300 or so kbytes. Open it by clicking here.

First, don't believe anything you read

I quote from the page in //Home > My eBay > Dispute Console > Items Not Received or Not as Described:

"It's rare for a transaction to go wrong on eBay, but sometimes problems can occur. If you've got a problem with a transaction the Item Not Received or Significantly Not as Described Process can help you resolve it."

Ha! Harumph! To this I say bollocks. I did a quick survey to ascertain who else in my near vicinity had experienced dodgy dealing, and discovered thats out of 69 transactions on ebay, 6 had gone south. That number again: 6 out of 69.

The words "piss poor" spring to mind.

caveat emptor

eBay is not the friendly marketplace I believed it to be. Perhaps they have grown too big. Perhaps they never gave a shit to begin with. Whatever the case, one thing is sure; when (note, I say "when" and not "if") anything goes bad, you're on your own.