The frustrating thing about the "no contact before a sale" is that if you want to inspect an item, ie furniture, TV etc you can't. That being said if I wanted to buy items as such, I will go elsewhere, where I can inspect/test the item before buying. Same goes for trying on clothing before buying, a lot of people want to try things on, whether you have measurements listed or not. So essentially they're shooting themselves in the foot and actually turning away potential buyers.
The whole thing can lead to a buser getting slapped with a Non Payment Dispute if you get a seller who is not happy that you've "agreed" to buy their item, gone to pick it up, but find it not suitable, not as described etc.and say you don't want it. It also means the seller has to cancel the sale, relist it, and potentially lose other interested parties.
eBay has become too paranoid on losing out on the $$$$$$ and given fees have been inflated from a small % in the past to almost 10%, plus their ridiculous 10% cut on postage their already making buckets of $$$$.
yes, there are probably a few sellers who would just sell to someone who comes to inspect an item, but that, I imagine, is a minority.
