Buyer Damaged Item, Returned and Claimed "Not As Described"

[mhtrader]

The buyer purchased an iPhone 6s from me. At end of the 30 day return window, he stated the phone stopped working and claimed "Not As Described". I accepted his return. Once I received it back, I immediately went to an Apple store for an inspection.  Apple's inspection report shows the phone got liquid damage which is not covered by their warranty (the phone has a built-in liquid sensor). It also shows the damage was first recorded in a previous store visit, which happened when the buyer had the phone in possession before it was returned to me.   So apparently the buyer damaged the phone, returned it and made a false claim!  Ebay and Paypal have declined all my protection requests. It is such a frustrating experience! 

For a case like this, what should a seller do to get protected since Ebay or Paypal does not offer any protection? 

Thank you for reading.

tech4lessdeals

[heppsusedtools]

Welcome the the new eBay, where sellers are now at the mercy of dishonest buyers and outright scammers and eBay is laughing all the way to the bank.  

 If the buyer opens a case, eBay's current return and money back gaurantee policies pretty much means you the seller will be screwed out of shipping costs in both directions, your FVFs, and be left holding a worthless item.  It doesn't matter that the buyer damaged the item.   Even with the ironclad proof you have, eBay is going to side with the buyer.  They already have your 10% on the sale price and original shipping.  You'll never get it back if the buyer knows how to work the system and follows eBay's lead.

There are those who will tell you that this is just the "cost of doing" business.  Those people are either in on eBay's dishonest behavior, or a benifiting from the departure of sellers who simply can not afford to provide free insurance against buyer's damaging items after delivery.