On eBay I sold a one-ounce gold Canadian Maple Leaf $1800 coin to a buyer in Minnesota. A different eBay user wrote to me that the buyer had filed a chargeback and cheated him out of his money. Because cancelling would cost me $100 in selling fees, I chose not to, and mailed the coin where that user told me to, an address in Japan taken from his eBay account email. At his request I used USPS international express, which, as I have since learned, requires no signature (the post office says it delivered the package and is looking into it).
After one month, once eBay had taken down the sale and I could no longer use eBay or change my feedback, I was notified that a chargeback had been filed. I had been warned, so I'd emptied my bank account, and PayPal then kept debiting the account, which brought overdraft fees and forced me to close it. All my evidence went in: the post office's proof, the buyer's emails (sent from the eBay account) and messages from the other eBay victim. Then I waited for a decision. PayPal reportedly took my side, but American Express, the buyer's card issuer, has the last word, and for some reason it backed its cardholder (whose card is in CA). PayPal also will not protect my sale, as the shipping address differed from the one on the buyer's eBay account.
eBay called itself powerless and told me to contact PayPal. At PayPal I heard that nothing could be done and that it has no connection with eBay, even though each email it sends is signed "an eBay company"; they recommended I call American Express. American Express would not talk to me because I am not "an American Express Merchant." PayPal is now demanding $1845, eBay wants its $106 sales fee and adds late fees to it, and both my accounts have been suspended.
My patience is gone. No one I have phoned, and I have lost count of how many, is willing to help, and the Police will not either, labeling this "civil" and supposedly not criminal. I don't expect to face Mr. Izuha in court. PayPal and eBay never mentioned this loophole hidden in their huge user agreement, and so, thanks to them, my nonexistent credit score will probably be destroyed. Their emails go so far as to describe this theft as "an inconvenience" and suggest I somehow come up with $2000, which I don't believe I am obliged to pay at all. Thanks, eBay/PayPal!
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