im unsure how pay pal works, but perhaps ebay should act as an intermediary whereby payment goes to ebay, merchandise gets shipped to ebay, and when the two items arrive, the vendor gets paid and the purchaser gets object.

or that purolator or fedex delivers the cheque at the same time as picks up the sale item. if the item is not available, the cheque does not get deliverred.

or that ebay forms a elite sales board whereby the items and sellers are more carefully scrutinized, backed by credit card, etc. if people want a higher verification

however, in neither case can the intermediary verify the quality of merchandise