Basic advice when selling via Ebay and a warning.

[Trev]

eBay's really no different than most brick and mortar businesses in the US. I recently purchased a CD boxed set from a local retailer. The set had a bad disc, and the retailer wouldn't exchange it, forcing me on the publisher. Yes, warranties blah blah blah, but my sales contract was with the retailer, not the publisher. No one stands behind the products they sell, from the smallest mom and pop shop to the largest big box store. (The exception is Fry's Electronics, which lets you return just about anything. Luckily, they put little "This item has been royally !@#%ed by our inexperienced customer service staff." stickers on all their returned and restocked items.)

[Trev]

For those of you that run real businesses, how does eBay compare to merchant accounts, credit card processing fees, rent, insurance, taxes, etc? Despite the buyer-friendly policies (gee whiz, consumer protection, imagine that), it's still less spendy than a "real" business. I suspect their dispute process isn't that different from a credit card charge back process.