BUYER SCAM AND EBAY FULLY BACKING HIM UP

[antiquestuff]

Hello Sellers
Back in Dec I got an offer for my 1970 Panini World Cup cards/album from a buyer in Holland named Peter. The set had 14 cards missing. These cards are considered the hardest to find. Despite the guyer being on ebay since 2009 yet the buyer has only 5 reviews. I turned down his offer yet he gave another offer. Here I told him that since you only have 5 reviews then you must waive your rights of return or refund if any loss or damage. He agreed, again I turned down his offer and he gave another offer. I sent him the same message again and he agreed to my conditions. So I contacted ebay customer service and explained the situation. He reviewed the communications between me and the buyer and told me to sell the item and I am 100% protected.
After shipping the cards/album, the buyer claimed that there are two items missing (making it 16) and he wants to return the item and opened a case. Yet he contacts me on my private email claiming that he did not open the claim and that he wants to keep the item and if I could find him other cards to finish the set. I found two different cards of the missing 14 and he told me to ship it to him.
Ebay put a hold on all my funds. When I contacted ebay again (by the way they put a block on your phone calls so you need to use other methods in contacting them) all I get is that I must accept the return of the item and pay him back in full and they are sorry that they told me to ship the item despite all that has happened. 
It is obvious that this buyer is a trained pro at this and I am sure he has done it multiple times before and that he has multiple Ebay accounts with a few reviews. As I got an email from another buyer also in holland and with 5 review asking about the same cards immediately after the buyer opened the case. 
I refused to take back the item as it is obvious that the buyer will not return the original or may not even return the item in all but ship empty box.
Now I am down am album and Ebay have frozen my funds.
Any ideas how to proceed?

[ebooksdiva]

In the face of eBay's Money Back Guarantee you are required to accept a return for Not as Described, Defective, Missing parts or Pieces or Wrong Item Sent. Your policy of no returns for a buyer with 5 feedback is not enforceable by eBay.  Your no returns policy can only be denied for remorse returns. 
Your only option is accept to the return, issue a return label and refund in full when you get your item back.

If you get eBay involved this will happen.... eBay will refund the buyer for you out of your funds, allowing the buyer to keep the item  and give you a defect for not handling your returns yourself. 
If you ignore the return, your buyer can escalate it to ebay, eBay will refund the buyer allowing the buyer to also keep the item and you'll get a defect for not handling the return.
If I was the seller in this scenario, I wouldn't have played the offer game I would have blocked the buyer and ignored any further offers from them. 

[luckythewinner]

Here I told him that since you only have 5 reviews then you must waive your rights of return or refund if any loss or damage

eBay offers buyers a Money Back Guarantee (MBG) that includes the ability to dispute a transaction for loss or damage. You cannot override the MBG and it does not matter what your buyer agreed to.

I contacted ebay customer service and explained the situation. He reviewed the communications between me and the buyer and told me to sell the item and I am 100% protected.

Any buyer can file a dispute for any purchase covered by the MBG. If (and I emphasize "if") eBay customer support told you that you could somehow waive the MBG and that you would be 100% protected from disputes, they lied to you.

Yet he contacts me on my private email claiming that he did not open the claim and that he wants to keep the item and if I could find him other cards to finish the set. I found two different cards of the missing 14 and he told me to ship it to him.

The eBay MBG process does not have a provision that supports or acknowledges side agreements via private mail. In fact, eBay tells you NOT to communicate with buyers outside the eBay message system and that it is a policy violation to do so.

I refused to take back the item as it is obvious that the buyer will not return the original or may not even return the item in all but ship empty box. Now I am down am album and Ebay have frozen my funds. Any ideas how to proceed?

You have already proceeded. By refusing to accept the return, you essentially guaranteed that the buyer will keep the album, and told eBay you will abide by their decision in the dispute (which will almost certainly be won by the buyer because of the MBG) and you will be forced to refund. 

Generally speaking, any buyer can steal any item from any seller at any time by filing a fraudulent dispute. That has been true since eBay introduced the MBG in 2008. Do not forget that when deciding what to list here in the future. 

In your attempt to protect yourself by setting unenforceable terms, you actually signaled to the scammer that you would be an easy mark.

[aeparts1]

That was an expensive lesson to learn. Sorry it happened to you.

[sextons-sweet-deals]

I'm sorry, but you really messed this one up. 

For that listing price, I would have only entertained pick-up only / pay then. 

[kensgiftshop]

You can refuse to take the item back, but that doesn't mean you won't be refunding.

If you want something returned before refunding, accept the return and pay return shipping.

[jerseyboymusic]

"I told him that since you only have 5 reviews then you must waive your rights of return or refund if any loss or damage. "

WHAT?!?!?

[antiquestuff]

UPDATE:
What I got out of this post is that another member came forward and it seems that he had the same issue with the same buyer. In his case he received an empty package as a return and Ebay refunded the buyer..... the seller got the worse of both worlds!!!