I've been buying and selling stuff on the Internet since way before the World Wide Web was a gleam on Tim Berners-Lee's keyboard.

In general, I've had really great experiences on both ends of the dollar. Most people are decent, honest, and--I'd even go so far as to say--kind and thoughtful. Then there's a minority that are sloppy, forgetful, unobservant, or kinda thoughtless or self-absorbed (that is, they figure that whatever their personal feelings are at the moment constitutes what's right). I'd say fewer than 10 or 15 percent fall into that category. They're not crooks, but they can make a transaction less pleasant than it could (or should) be. I know that I've been cranky at times myself--usually because I was either defensive (like maybe I've waited a few days too long to send an item or payment out--I know that that could never happen to you) or because I'd misunderstood a communication.

Then there's that small percentage that are con artists, clever operators, flim-flammers, or just downright crooks. I'm glad to say that in the thousands of online transactions I've been a part of, I've only run into these folks maybe a dozen times or so. Unfortunately, some of those transactions had pretty nasty consequences (like the time--pre-Web, pre-ebay, I think it was about 1987--I bought a brand new Macintosh from this guy in Montreal for $500; my original contact was on a newsgroup--remember those?--I called him and we had a very pleasant and exteneded chat; he explained that he'd won the computer in a drawing and that he had no interest or knowledge of Macs; I wired him the money and then called again 8 or 10 times over the ensuing month; he was very loquacious--with a charming French accent--but what he'd done was actually very simple, he'd stolen my money; ultimately, I realized that my big mistake had not been that I trusted the guy or that I'd wired the money--though those were both errors in a small sense--my big mistake was that I was greedy; I knew that that Mac was a steal for $500 and I knew that I was taking advantage of someone who couldn't possibly know that the computer was worth more than that; so, I felt chastened by the proof of the old adage that "you can't cheat an honest man"; I do think that that's pretty darn true, btw).

But, as I said, the vast majority of my online buying and selling experiences have been great. And--despite it's many warts and shortcomings--I have to applaud ebay and the ebay community.

Thanks everyone!