I learned two interesting things about eBay today which I'll pass on to you here. All this came about because I got my first negative feedback, but it is being resolved and removed. The stories:

(1) eBay has this annoying internal email contact system, where members can send messages to each other THROUGH eBAY, that is, eBay acts as a conduit to send your messages back and forth. I guess eBay wants to make it difficult for people to arrange their own private non-eBay deals; can't blame them entirely. The problem is, I've learned, that the system is broken. In my case, I receive copies in my email In-Box for messages I send others, but the messages others send to me DOES NOT REACH MY EMAIL IN-BOX!!! Lately I have been annoyed that many people were not replying to me, BUT THEY WERE -- the replies were in my "Messages" list in my "My EBay" pages. I could have/should have checked every day or so at the "Messages" tab in My EBay.

I discussed this on an eBay message board today. One wise poster (berserkerplanet) replied to me (poker-chips-on-line) with this that looks genuine:

The moral is to check your eBay Communication preferences and check your "Messages" at My EBay often. Also, you can in many cases send direct regular emails; the email addresses are contained in sales notices and PayPal transaction advices.

(2) I also learned today that eBay has some very sensible rules/methods for a seller (with the help of the buyer) to get negative feedback removed when there has been a misunderstanding or hasty error:
http://pages.ebay.com/help/feedback/revision-request.html

Robert