I do the same as far as looking at anyone without a perfect rating. Not that I expect everyone to have 100%, but more of a check as it if they have had problems recently or if it was something from years ago. I usually hunt for the last negative feedback even if it has been a while and see what it says.
On an opposite note, just because someone does not have 100% doesn't mean that they are crooks. I've got a rating of 99 (waiting 2 weeks for one guy to give me my positive feedback) but my percentage is 98.1%. I've had 117 positives received, but it doesn't count them if they are from the same person. I have 2 negatives. One from May 2000, and the other from July 2004. The first one I paid the guy and he didn't ship and never responded to emails. After about 2 weeks, I left a negative for him. That got his attention, so he left me a negative in retaliation. He had my money but didn't send anything to me because he was on vacation. What a dumb time to have an auction end, right as you are leaving for vacation. Anyway, I completed the transaction with him in another auction after he appologized, and the very next feedback on my account was a positive from him. Too bad I can't go back and erase that unjustified negative. The second one was similar. I made my payment minutes after the auction, like I always do when buying, and no email, and no package. After 3 weeks, I left a negative. They too retaliated and left me a negative with the words "Sellers Beware!" claiming that I hadn't paid them. I, to this day, have the PayPal transaction record to prove that I DID pay right after the auction. Again, I wish that I could get that one wiped off my record too. That eBayer has a 12,452 score with 97.7%, but hasn't sold anything on eBay since 2002 and is no longer registered. But I can't make it go away, so I will forever have to live with a less than perfect record.
Now, if I had these negatives more recently on my account, I would expect some people to be cautious, but since they are from 5 and 7 years ago with me having 81 positive transactions since then (no negatives), I feel that people trust me (as they should) on eBay.
So check out everyone before bidding. Someone that looks pretty good may not be, and someone with some negatives, may really be a super star on eBay.
