While, oddly enough, I can appreciate a few of the changes eBay's announced--which, in itself, is a small miracle--I can't help but feel, once again, that eBay's giving both its buyers and sellers dueling weapons, but only providing the buyers with any actual ammunition! For those of us who use eBay as a site for rare (and often expensive) collectibles, not allowing sellers to offer insurance as an option on medium-priced auctions or as a requirement on high-dollar / hard-to-replace items only further cuts into any possible hope of profits in this ailing economy. Likewise, and as should be noted by both eBay and buyers alike, a seller can't control the outcome or speed of delivery once an item has left his or her hands; with Fed Ex, UPS, and the USPS occasionally damaging or losing packages or taking a bit longer than expected to deliver them. To say that sellers should figure the cost of insurance into either their asking price, opening bid, or handling fee only works as a means for eBay to make more in listing fees on auctions posted with higher opening bids, despite the fact that buyers aren't as likely to meet these opening bids and eBay monitors shipping and handling charges so that, in order to protect themselves, sellers actually lose money on most media auctions since the imposed $3.00 maximum shipping charge is not enough to cover the cost of adding Delivery Confirmation, which is now necessary in the event a PayPal claim should arise. Rewarding sellers who have good feedback and high DSR ratings is a definite step in the right direction; but eBay's begun to hold its buyers' hands to such a degree that I can't help but feel that they've almost become patronizing, as if the buyers aren't capable of so much as crossing a busy street on their own or knowing right from wrong? I've often felt eBay should require some form of 'driver's test' before turning just anybody and everybody loose on its site since, as we all know, some unsavory characters, sadly, do lurk in the shadows and, with eBay's and PayPal's constant revisions of policies--which they may or may not uphold should you try contacting Customer Support--these unscrupulous individuals take full advantage of both said policies and unfortunate sellers. I've also always been puzzled as to how, when I compare notes with other sellers who've responded to eBay's 'surveys,' eBay can post (in its Announcements Board) what an overwhelming positive response they've received to something that no one, besides the folks at eBay, actually seems to like? The only feedback sellers can leave eBay is simply by leaving the site and selling their items elsewhere; but, sadly, eBay doesn't see this and, thus, continues to alienate both buyers and sellers alike in an attempt to generate revenue. If we could only return to eBay in its heyday, to quote the song, what a wonderful world this would be!