Here's a few tips for those of you who are having trouble with an eBay buyer or seller:

Most importantly, USE DELIVERY CONFIRMATION or TRACKING NUMBERS!!!  If you don't, you won't stand a chance of winning any kind of complaint or resolution.

If you are a seller and can't afford to lose the item you are selling, make sure you use some kind of delivery confirmation or tracking info.  This also holds true for buyers who are returning merchandise.  If the item is declared lost in the mail or never received by the buyer or seller, Paypal will hold you responsible unless you can prove the item was delivered.  Most buyers are honest, but there are a few who take advantage of sellers who don't use delivery confirmation and cause trouble.

If you are a buyer and are returning an item for a refund, again, you have to use some kind of tracking or delivery confirmation.  If you don't, the seller may claim the item was never returned.  In this case you may be out of a refund and obviously out of the item.  Here again, most sellers are honest and helpful with their buyers, but a few are not and will cheat you out of your refund if you haven't used delivery confirmation. 

Second, keep in mind that not all items are eligible for paypal protection.  The following items are examples of items never covered under any circumstances:

• intangible goods
• services
• tickets
• licenses
• digital content

Third, remember that in most cases, palpay protection will only cover losses of up to $200 unless specifically stated otherwise.  Also remember that paypal is only able to cover these losses under the circumstances that they can recover the money from the offending party.  Paypal won't cover you directly, all they will do is try and recover the money from the wrongful buyer or seller.  If they can't, they won't provide any further help or funds. 

With all this said, make sure you take the necessary precautions before buying, selling, or returning merchandise through eBay.  It's a great place to do business, but you need to be careful and protect yourself because no one else will.  Ebay and Paypal may help you with a transaction gone bad, but don't rely on them to think for you.  Make sure you are very familiar with policies before you rely on them-only to find out later that they don't work the way you thought they did in the first place.  Make sure you read all the fine print in the policies as well as on auction listings and check feedback. 

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