So I've been selling on eBay for decades, pretty much with the understanding that once an "Item Not Received" case is open by the buyer and the required 5 day time-frame elapses, eBay WILL NOT reverse the claim without Proof of Delivery (essentially Signature Required for receipt of item) even if tracking supports that the item was received after the INR case is closed. I had a disgruntled buyer flip out because his item was not received within a week and half of it being shipped (the day after it was sold, with tracking uploaded.) I explained to the buyer that USPS was having significant delays with shipping time across all of their services (something the eBay actually posted on their own announcement board quite recently):
https://community.ebay.com/t5/Announcements/USPS-slow-downs-and-recent-weather-delays/ba-p/34399147
That being said, I decided to "Appeal the Claim" once the item had arrived and to my surprise (for the first time ever), eBay approved the appeal in my favor! This has never happened before despite me following the exact same process a handful of times over the past decade or so.
My question is, is this a new policy? For years, I've tried to appeal a case (after an item was eventually received) and was never granted an appeal.
Also, where exactly do the funds for the reversal come from? Is it from the buyer (as it should be, they shouldn't get the item for free!) or does eBay simply eat the cost?
Really curious to know every Seller's experiences in this regard as I have always been frustrated with the overly strict appeal policy.
