I don't recall saying that either of these sellers were 'newbies'. The first one has been an ebay member for 2 years, the second admittedly much newer.
A user with an old account and lots of feedback for only buying can still be considered a new seller, and the seller's payments may still be subject to an automatic hold by eBay. A gap of six months since last receiving feedback for a sale might simply be the sign of a low-volume or sporadic but otherwise trustworthy seller, or it might be a warning sign of a hijacked account.
I no longer buy much on ebay, but when I do, it is usually something very specific - in the latest case, I am after a certain style of clothing, in a certain size, preferably in a certain brand and colour. And the seller must be located in Australia. Believe it or not, when I enter all my search criteria, I get 8 results, but choosing an item in my price range, brings it down to 2 results. So how is it possible to choose 'only from established sellers' given these results?
It may not be possible to buy every item in every price range from established sellers. There are certain items in certain price ranges where every item listed is a scam listing, though I do not get the sense that most clothing categories are filled with scam listings (with the exception of certain high priced or hard to find items such as sneakers). Then again, I would not have guessed that things like bubble wrap and epoxy resin would be popular scam items, either.
Given the choice between buying from an experienced seller with an unbroken track record of sales in the same category, and buying from a seller with little or no history of sales in the same category, there are many good reasons to prefer doing business with the established seller.
Given a choice between buying from a seller that answers reasonable questions in a timely manner, and buying from a seller that does not respond at all, there are many good reasons to prefer doing business with the responsive seller.
If your two sellers are the only option for those particular items in that price range, then you will have to weigh the risks and decide for yourself whether you want to take a chance or possibly pay a bit more for an item from a seller with an established track record.
