"Unfortunately, eBay is a different place now, and if we don't like it, or are having problems, the response will basically be 'tough cheddar'..."

I agree with your interpretation, but it remains anathema to me.   The rule that I grew up in business with was "make it easy for your customers to do business with you and they'll keep coming back for more, and tell all their friends".  Regrettably ebay have done the opposite by making it harder and harder, whether it's due to the straitjacket they've strapped around sellers or the absurd search results or any number of other ways in which ebay have made it harder either to buy or sell.  I don't see ebay as anything other than a voracious behemoth now, and the more I see what avarice does to people who are already fabulously wealthy, the less inclined I am to feed the greed machine.