Hello,
I am a buyer and a seller on eBay. I agree with comments from both sides. Heres my view, first as a buyer, then as a seller.
As a buyer - I look at the total listing, before bidding or not bidding. Feedback rating, starting bid, reserve price, shipping charges, combined shipping charges, payment options, insurance & photo included. If any of these are not acceptable to me as buyer, such as- (poor feedback rating), ("reserve"-I bid only once, my max, and if the reserve is not met, Im done), (excessive shipping), (no PayPal), (insurance not offered), (poor photo) then I move on. Simple as that. If everything looks good, and I have a bad experience with a seller, I dont buy from them again.
As a seller - Lets look at this example. When posting a large number of listings with low cost items,(sellers actual cost of item $2.00), starting bid at .99cents, no reserve & $3.00 shipping. If the item sells for .99cents + $3.00 shipping. Thats $3.99 for the seller. Now lets subtract the fees. LISTING FEE=.20cents, FVF-5.25%=.07cents, GALLERY=.35cents, PAYPAL-"2.9%+.30cents"=.42cents, shipping=$2.00. That leaves .95cents, then minus the actual cost of the item of $2.00, that leaves the seller $1.04 in the hole. Just a FYI. Basically the only way for this example to be profitable for the seller, is the hope of bidders buying multiple items & then shipping the items, combined shipping. Of course then you will have the people who will argue that combined shipping charges are too high. Face the facts. On items listed below or at actual cost, the seller is going to lose money, if the item sells at minimum bid, as in this example.
EBAY & PAYPAL are not perfect, and yes the fees are high, for this type of seller. Its the gamble that the seller takes when listings are posted.
Buyers need to understand that there are cost and fees involved in posting a listing and that shipping charges involve more than a postage stamp.
Yes the seller wants the most profit he can get, and yes the buyer wants the best deal he can get. Its impossible to make everyone happy in every situation.
Yes there are sellers that abuse the system and yes there are buyers who want something for nothing. Youre always going to have someone that is going to find fault with the other party.
SIMPLE ADVISE FOR BUYERS - dont bid if you dont agree with the listing terms.
SIMPLE ADVISE FOR SELLERS - we arent going to bid if your terms are ridiculous.
Lastly - FEEDBACK - I agree that this feature needs work. I dont have the solution, but as both a seller & a buyer, heres my view.
As a buyer I always post feedback when I receive the item, that I purchased. ALWAYS.
As a seller, I post feedback, after the buyer has posted feedback. Why? 1. I used to post as soon as payment was received. Only 1/3 of the buyers posted in return. 2. If I post when payment is received, then the buyer can post negative(because of any number of things that can happen during shipment or a deceitful buyer). Then I have negative on my rating, from a buyer that I posted positive. Fair ??? Just as an experiment. I, as the seller, recently left feedback for everyone,(78 feedbacks), as soon as payment was received. The feedback response was... 6, yes, six (6), very sad. This is why I have the policy of posting, once feedback is received.
Lets face it. Its never going to be perfect, and at the same time, there are going to be those on both extremes, sellers with ridiculous terms & buyers expecting something for nothing.

Thank for listening.