Thanks to Greg Parker, I have been able to find more about the ebay scam I mentioned yesterday.
As I understand now, this is what happened. The buyer used instant transfer from his checking account to fund all or part of the purchase of the sale from me. The payment occurred on February 19. That day, I received the normal notice from Paypal, stating that the money was an instant transfer for the auction; no distinction in the notice is made between receiving an instant transfer that is drawn from a person's money in his Paypal account or one that is drawn directly from money in his Paypal account. On Tuesday, I received a notice from Paypal that the credit to my account has been reversed. That's nearly two weeks between receiving the "instant transfer" and the reversal.
What has happened, and this is only speculation because Paypal will not give me a full explanation, is that the person overdrew his checking account; he did not make up the overdraft with the bank; and now the bank reverses the credit to get their money back. (That part, after two weeks, I still don't understand.) And unless I can get the money directly from the buyer or get the hubs back, there is nothing that I can do unless Ebay helps (and most who use Ebay know how helpful they can be). Had I used a delivery confirmation in sending the hubs, my Paypal guarantee would apply, but unless the person has the money in his account, which, I assume he does not, even there, Paypal only bans the account holder from using his account until he pays. In other words, Paypal cannot or will not go after the buyer to get him or her to pay unless the money is in the account.
Lesson learned as I stated previously, always send delivery confirmation or on-line trackable packages. That is the only way the Paypal guarantee can be enforced.
This is the auction:
I now have my stack of delivery confirmation stickers.
Thanks for the interest.
Cheers.
Tom Hayes
Chagrin Falls, Ohio USA