My take on your problem is slightly different.
I think it is important to check feedback but I will sometimes take a slight risk with a seller even if their feedback is a bit iffy, But here's the difference.
I will only do that if it is a seller based in Australia.
That's because it would be easier all round to arrange that they pay return postage in the event of a problem.
The other difference is there is nowadays no way I would wait months to get satisfaction.
You can't rely on the seller. It's fine to contact them initially but if you don't get immediate satisfaction, and I do mean immediate-within 48 hours- then you need to turn to ebay and open a proper claim. You need to do that within 30 days of estimated arrival date of the item. You'll see that date in the ad.
You can't afford to dilly dally around.
Yes, there is a problem with Chinese based sellers advertising their items as located in Australia. Sometimes the items are actually here, sometimes not. The ETA will give you some clue as to whether they are likely local. But my take on it is why give them the business in the first place? So I always check out seller location, not just item location. A pain, but worth the extra few seconds.
Scammers. Ebay will kick off obvious scammers or caution them but sellers who are overseas are allowed to advertise their goods as being here (as they may have a warehouse here). So that is not considered a scam. That's why they aren't kicked off, I guess. I don't like it either but it is just the way it is.
Ebay also doesn't guarantee the quality of any items. That's on the seller. But if your problem is your item never turned up or it was faulty or damaged on arrival, then that's when you need to swing into a proper ebay claim for a refund. Don't delay it. You don't have to message ebay about it, just open a claim.
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