> the ratings at E-bay for both sellers and products mean something. they don't. when you buy something from a top seller, they get an automatic 5 star rating

> the ratings at E-bay for both sellers and products mean something. they don't. when you buy something from a top seller, they get an automatic 5 star rating for that purchase. you have to wait many days (5 i think) after you receive the item, to lodge a less than 5 star rating. the rating is across a few categories, with unknown weighting, so even if you successfully put in a 1 star rating (which you have to justify), the weighted rating is still above 3. "top seller" status doesn't have anything to do with quality, just as "amazon's choice" has nothing to do with quality.