Negative Equity

A month ago after selling a few bits on eBay, I received my first ever negative. My upset and disappointment wasn't really in proportion with the seriousness of this happening. There are, of course much more important things to worry about in life, but we all over-react sometimes.

What annoyed me the most was the injustice of it. I felt it was completely undeserved and as many already know, EBay protect buyers but not sellers. You can't leave a negative comment for a buyer, no matter how much they warrant it. This particular woman also chooses to keep her feedback private, so the option of leaving a positive and a carefully worded comment were out.
So I was left with a massive dent in my previously perfect 100% feedback. But I found a solution - of sorts!
Using the site Goofbid.com I made a few purchases after looking at the penny auctions - found by going to:-
'eBay tools'
'Feeling lucky bargains'
'Penny auctions'

In reality, I've only actually won two things for 1p. However, the other things I bought have all been pence rather than £'s. I've stuck to buying either toiletries or craft items, with a strict proviso that it was stuff I'd actually use.
Almost all of the sellers are based in China, so you have to be prepared to wait a while for goods to arrive. I find that these sellers deliver faster than they say they will. I haven't had any problems with service or quality.
I did wonder initially how  they could sell for 1p (or 1 cent or 1 euro), but it looks like it is a calculated risk as many items go for much more. Just have to be careful not to get carried away when bidding.
Oh, and did I mention that on these auctions they are almost exclusively free p&p.
So, feedback score almost repaired, very little money spent and I often come home to a little parcel all the way from the far east!