I visited the link you provided, not to have a laugh, but to read more about your claim before commenting. I assume that you have already consulted Ebay officials and determined that you have no legal or punitive recourse that is acceptable to you. No lawyer I, but I would think that the sellers statements concering his definition of "excellent" false. If the description of an item's condition were solely at the discretion of the seller we would not have lemon laws for automobiles. There are in fact laws to protect consumers. But, as I said, I am not a lawyer, and cannot comment on the legality of this issue.
I can, however, sympathize. And to be honest I don't think a grading scale will prevent such individuals from taking advantage of this new medium called the internet with inaccurate, or just plain deceitful, advertising. To my mind, the problem isn't the grading scales, it's the expense required of the buyer to bring the legal system to bear; expense both in terms of money and time. And businesses such as Ebay seem to go out of their way to make it difficult to contact them about these matters. I've tried to use their system in the past and it just wasn't worth the effort.
I can, however, sympathize. And to be honest I don't think a grading scale will prevent such individuals from taking advantage of this new medium called the internet with inaccurate, or just plain deceitful, advertising. To my mind, the problem isn't the grading scales, it's the expense required of the buyer to bring the legal system to bear; expense both in terms of money and time. And businesses such as Ebay seem to go out of their way to make it difficult to contact them about these matters. I've tried to use their system in the past and it just wasn't worth the effort.