The value of seller trustworthiness in C2C online markets

If you want to buy a Barry Bonds baseball card, what are your options? In the past you would probably go to a specialty sports card shop or a card show at a shopping mall to buy from a dealer. And you would probably pay full retail price. You now have the option to use the Internet to buy directly from another collector through USENET sports trading card newsgroups or an online auction site such as eBay (www.ebay.com), Amazon.com Auctions (www.amazon.com), or Yahoo! Auctions (www.yahoo.com). Often, you can buy the item from another collector at a lower price than you would pay a dealer, and the seller can get a higher price than they would have received if they sold to a dealer. In consumer-to-consumer (C2C) e-commerce, these markets are dramatically affecting the distribution of profits in collectible industries - like sports trading cards - as well as a wide range of other industries such as books, electronics, and event tickets where individuals wish to buy, sell, or trade directly. So, is this an online Utopia?