For years, eBay's feedback system has been the foundation of trust at the world's largest garage sale. Buyers can publicly praise or condemn sellers based on the service they receive, and in turn, sellers can do the same. These ratings then serve as guidelines for future trading partners. But starting in May, 2008, sellers can no longer leave negative feedback about buyers under any circumstances, leaving their own reputations—and more, as it turns out—subject to the whims of newly emboldened bidders.

The change will certainly be a hit with buyers, who for the first time can post negative feedback for the worst sellers without fear of retaliation. eBay will no longer be a safe haven for sellers who charge $18.99 to ship a 35-cent item, hucksters who sell broken cameras described as "like new," or hoodlums who just take your money and run.

But along with the bathwater goes the baby: Honest sellers have now lost their only means of defense against the droves of belligerent and inexperienced buyers who won't forgive even the smallest mistakes. Sell a used CD with a scratch on it and you could get negative feedback. Post office loses your package and the disappointed buyer may take it out on you (even after you've issued a refund). Refuse to ship a package to a buyer's "unconfirmed" alternate address—in accordance with PayPal's strict guidelines, by the way—and the frustrated buyer will reward you with negative feedback and a product you now have to try to sell to someone else.

The kicker is that soon after the change, negative feedback and the accompanying 1-to-5 star "detailed seller ratings" can affect more than just your reputation. Sellers with less-than-perfect standing will have their wares demoted in search results and—in severe cases—have their payments withheld for up to three weeks (during which time they're expected to ship their customers' purchases as usual).

In exchange for levying these new burdens upon sellers, eBay has promised to improve its admittedly lackluster policing of the marketplace (details at pages.ebay.com/sell/update08/overview). If this feels like small consolation, here are ten things you can do to reduce the likelihood of negative feedback and keep your reputation from being tarnished needlessly when selling on eBay.

This article originally appeared on PCMag.com.