"the high percentage of positive feedbacks is not a fail -safe formula to rely on."
Correct
Your choice. Pay $55 on eBay (including shipping) with a possibility (1.3%) that something will go wrong or go to the Honda dealer, pay $??, and avoid the risk.
Shipping charge ($30) is 150% of the price ($20) of the item, meaning there would be no point in paying return shipping if the item does not work.
Considering the high shipping cost and the possibility of taxes and brokerage fee at time of Customs clearance, I do not think it is a wise purchase by a Canadian, regardless of the seller's feedback.
How much would such item cost at retail from a dealer?
Hello 'patken123',
I would have to agree with you that feedback percentages themselves are not very useful. There may be
the odd time when a large-volume seller has an exceptionally low percentage, but the reasons for this
will be reflected in the comments. If a seller is too horrible, he'll have his account restricted.
Whereas for a very small seller, he might have 94% or less and when you look to see why, -- it was only
one negative nearly a year earlier where some fink wrote "slow shipping". All his other comments praise
him for great packaging, pleasant helpful communication, and items exactly as described.
Moreover, the system counts only red circles but if you factor grey ones into your calculations, your
seller has a satisfaction rate of only 97.3%.
So you can see how, as a "formula", percentages in and of themselves are really no formula at all.
<<I'm talking about how a seller would react if or when something does go wrong ... it is hard but not
impossible to decipher the negative comments to gauge how a seller might react when facing a problem.>>
Really? I have no difficulty with that one at all. Of course it is much easier when the seller responds to
these comments, but even if the seller's policy is to not respond at all, if he is a difficult person there will
be someone who mentions poor (or non-existent) communication.
For your seller, if it were me I would not buy those parts no matter how comparatively inexpensive they
appeared, not least because of the comments. There are far too many complaints about items that
don't fit and don't work, -- I'm not enough of a gambler to chance that I might get lucky, not when it
comes to car parts.
If you buy those and you have a problem, you can expect to mail them back at your own expense. You
will then be out the rather ghastly Canada Post 'delivery confirmed' fee, and you'll have nothing.
But if you buy them at a local shop, even if you wish to install them yourself, you can promptly return them
to the store if they don't fit or they break soon after. If you have them put on for you and there's a problem,
you can return to the shop and explain the problem where they will fix it or provide new ones.
It's a matter of choice, but in my opinion having that kind of service option is well worth any extra cost.
You'll have to make your own decisions of course, but when using feedback to determine whether or
not to purchase, the numbers themselves should be one of the last things you consider.
I hope it has a happy ending for you 
