If you must know, LIthium ion batteries. The real ones from established brands (even a budget brand like Efest) cost a lot more than the ----fire batteries you see all over ebay for a few bucks).
The manufacturer (EFest) offers an authentication code on a sticker. To find if it's authentic, one scratches off coating to reveal a 20 character code, which they can then go to the manufacturer site to enter for confirmation. I even checked more recently and the codes are still supported and active. I doubt he even tried checking them based how he described it.
I know they're genuine because I bought direct from the Efest factory (I verified the address, it's their business address, not a knockoff factory in some other part of China). When I received the shipment, I grabbed 4 of each type at random and checked the codes and ran the samples through a hobby charger to verify the capacity (counterfeits will have significantly less than the rated capacity).
I also test everything before shipping out because shipping stuff back and forth in Canada is fairly expensive and it's a pain in the ass for everybody. Most people appreciate the effort.
Ebay's argument for finding in favor of the buyer is that I was not in possession of the batteries and could not provide definitive proof of authenticity or condition of those specific batteries and he wasn't co-operating.. I did provide evidence in the form of a receipt from the manufacturer and the photo of a similar battery from the same batch, but that's not direct evidence of those specific batteries.
I was instructed to supply him with return postage, and upon receiving the batteries back (hopefully he wouldn't swap them out before sending them). Then I could provide EBay with photos of those batteries with the authentication codes and appeal. They actually could have resolved this quickly by asking him to snap photos of the codes to confirm authenticity, and take voltage measurements (to confirm viability).
However, instead of sending them back, he opted to do a chargeback with his credit card. This way, he can keep the original money, the money sent for return postage, AND the batteries.
He had already been promised a refund by ebay upon return of the batteries confirmed by a tracking number. It's automated, I didn't even have to be involved at that point and I had 90 days to appeal. He'd already won, and he wasn't going out of pocket to send them back, so he had no reason to do this except to keep the batteries too --- which he claims didn't work and were counterfeit, so why would he want to keep them?
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At present, Paypal has given me back the fees for this transaction and refunded the full amount to his credit card pending dispute with the credit card, as well as waiving the chargeback fee of $20. Not sure how that'll turn out, but if they find in my favor, I'll get the money back.
EBay, however, has been reluctant to refund the final value fees with a new excuse from each person I talk to . It's only a small amount of money, but it's about the principle now. and Ebay shouldn't profit from being a blind accomplice to fraud.
