OP, to me it always matters more what the seller's conditions are  - and I abide by them rather than Ebay's condition.

Their interference is way over board - after all I'm not buying anything of them.

In this case seller probably meant if change of mind is the reason - I would't refund postage part either.

harley - of course it matters a lot what the seller wants and how they want to set their conditions, such a blatant disregard, saying

"it doesn't matter what they want" - is out of line.

It's exactly the opposite from where I'm standing:

Ebay can say what they want - but I'm dealing with another individual who's selling something and setting down their conditions.

If I don't think they are fair and reasonable I don't have to deal with them - but to tollaly disrespect their wishes and still go ahead and buy it - no.

How can thousands of other sites function just fine - even better than Ebay - without all this carp - they all have their own conditions, 

and the only ones that should be relevant are all the compliances with consumer laws in that particular country.

That is all that Ebay as well should oversee - anything else is none of their busines.