Ebay refunding buyer and told them not to return item

[susmfs]

Hello, I sold a vintage set of drums here to a buyer out of state. Ebay has been holding the funds (about $850) so I haven't actually received money yet. After some time the buyer claimed that the items are broken. We've gone back and forth on repairs and photos. I believe they were damaged in transit or the buyer did it but that wasn't how they were shipped. I even pursued a UPS claim but the buyer was uncooperative. Regardless, he pursued his claim and I was expecting Ebay to refund his money when he shipped them back (the shipping was around $150). I just got a message from ebay that they were refunding him AND he's not required to ship them back to me. So now I'm out a set of drums and $850 plus all the ebay fees and shipping I've already paid and this guy gets a vintage set of drums for free. This feels like robbery. Help!

[soh.maryl]

Were they sold on a different ID?  When a buyer claims item not as described, the seller is supposed to send him a prepaid return label.  Was that done?

There may be some important info missing from your post.  

[dbfolks166mt]

     I don't see the drums you sold under this ID. Did the buyer actually open and NAD case with eBay or a chargeback with their CC company? How did you respond to the case? As soh.maryl noted there is some missing information here. 

[mtgraves7984]

"... he pursued his claim and I was expecting Ebay to refund his money when he shipped them back..."

@susmfs 

If you're new to Returns, this ^^^ isn't how it works. eBay doesn't refund the buyer after the buyer ships the item back, you do. eBay will refund if you don't approve a NAD claim and the buyer has to ask them to step in.

[kensgiftshop]

If you wanted them returned before refunding, you should have accepted the return and paid return shipping.

When a buyer says an item is damaged, the seller has 3 days to fix it, when you didn't, Ebay stepped in and took care of the buyer.