Here is the current policy on Seller Protection for Managed Payments sellers (like OP) at this time (12/22/2020). (Sellers who are not in Managed Payments are covered by PayPal Seller Protection, which has different rules.)
In order to have Seller Protection in this situation (an Item Not Received case for a local-pickup item), the seller has to provide documentation of two points:
- validation of the identity of the person making the pickup,
- and, proof of pickup
This policy makes it clear that proof of pickup is required, in addition to verifying the identity of the person making the pickup, in order for a seller to be protected by Seller Protection (for eBay to cover the amount of the dispute and waive the fee).
https://www.ebay.com/help/selling/getting-paid/handling-payment-disputes?id=4799
This policy is consistent with the Money Back Guarantee policy (as of 12/22/2020) which OP used as the basis for her claim that the buyer was not covered by the Money Back Guarantee. This snip includes the three scenarios that apply for local pickup transactions:
...
...
OP's interpretation of the first scenario was that: if the "item wasn't collected", that would be enough by itself to comply with this scenario and make the transaction be not covered by MBG. But that isn't what it actually says. The scenario goes on to say: if the "item wasn't collected by, or on behalf of, the buyer", and it is reasonable that the whole scenario would have to apply in order for the transaction to be not covered by MBG, not just the first part of the scenario. So an item would have to have been picked up by someone other than the buyer or on their behalf for this scenario to apply, in which case this scenario is similar to the 3rd scenario (courier pickup) but could be applied to other situations than courier pickup, their own shipping method, or freight delivery.
This implies that a local pickup item that was not picked up does not comply with the first scenario, and is covered by MBG because it doesn't comply with any of the 3 scenarios that are listed (for local pickup items) which would would have made the transaction "not covered".
The wording in the other sections, mentioning "evidence of ... proof of collection by the buyer" and "if ... the item wasn't successfully ... collected" make it clear that an item that was not picked up or collected, is covered by eBay Money Back Guarantee.
