I think the problem you originally mentioned-overseas sellers that mislead you into thinking you are buying local-is one that comes up a lot on these boards.
I've said for years that the seller location should be listed in the ad, right next to item location.
You can find the information but not in the actual ad itself and a lot of casual ebay users don't know how to or else assume that if a product is here, then it is being sold from Australia.
This problem is not exclusive to ebay, by the way. It is rampant right across the board, every ad you see on facebook, anywhere, you need to double check.
All I can say is good quality items, made in Australia by sellers in Australia, are available on ebay & it is worth the search. Just this morning I received something like that from an ebay purchase.
I think an awful lot will depend though on exactly what sort of item you are after.
I find my best defence on ebay has been to read the ads carefully, usually twice over, & to check seller location and feedback. There are some great quality goods out there from Australian sellers, it can be worth the time to find them.
