(TL;DR at the end)
On May 11, I purchased a fully-loaded mid-2015 15-inch MacBook Pro that was supposedly less than 30 days old (according to the serial number when checked against Apple's warranty tool) via a Buy It Now -- for $2600 (read: in-line with market value) from a seller with 100% ratings and a 2014-vintage account.
The listing shipping fee was $50, for SmartPost; when I pointed out that SmartPost didn't offer insurance, the seller (via eBay message) demanded $20 for upgraded shipping with signature confirmation. After paying that additional fee, the seller disclosed that the laptop's bottom panel had been replaced and the serial number would not match the hardware ID (no mention of this in the auction); this raised the hair on my neck, I told him it was fine, so long as the motherboard reported the serial listed in the auction, because my non-retina 2012 MacBook Pro had died and I needed a new machine, stat (I don't like the fact that the 2016 touch-bar machines have soldered-in SSDs, no SD card slot and only USB-C ports).
When the box arrived (USPS first class parcel; no signature required) it looked like it had been through a war, so I decided to film myself opening it, just in case. The laptop was wrapped in a single layer of half-deflated bubble wrap, with 2 strips of 1/8th-inch foam in each end of the 2-day Priority Mail box, which was much larger than the laptop, with a cheap 3rd-party AC adapter thrown in, loose. Unwrapping the laptop on camera, I noted a large dent along the Thunderbolt ports on the left hand side and on the side of the display and showed them to the camera. Physical damage to the case voids Apple's warranty. I was able to boot the computer into hardware diagnostic mode and confirm that the serial number of the motherboard matches the serial in the listing, but differs from the serial on the bottom case (which is heavily scratched and mildly dented). I photographed the serial number on-screen, the Apple system profiler report, the damage and all sides of the machine, along with the 60w power adapter (the 15-inch requires an 85w) and embedded those in the ensuing return request.
I immediately opened a return case, for an item arriving damaged, uploading the photos and describing the damage. The seller's response was to say that it was undamaged when it was packaged; when I pointed out that eBay's Money Back Guarantee mandates a return for a full refund for items damaged in transit, he demanded a photo showing clearly both the on-screen serial number and the damage in the same photo. I complied, using my iPhone, uploading directly to Dropbox (and linked the direct image and enclosing folder URLs) and his response was to claim that I had composited the image in Photoshop. I filmed, using the iPhone, the damage and the machine going from off to booting into diagnostic mode, in a single take and uploaded to Dropbox (and embedded the direct link); he responded that it was all CGI and I was trying to defraud him. My response was that, if he'd spent a fraction of the $70 in shipping fees on packaging the machine, I'd have the working laptop that I need and he'd get to keep my money, and that I would no longer respond, pending escalating for eBay's review, reminding him that, if he wants to file an insurance claim with the USPS, he needs to do so soon. (All of the above was conducted via eBay's messaging system, in the dispute).
The seller then sent me an email, offering: "Are you willing to do a return for the original price of the MacBook, minus ebay/paypal/shipping fees and a 15% restock fee?"
I replied, via the dispute message system, that such an offer was in violation of eBay policy and disadvantageous, versus the Money Back Guarantee return process and included a screenshot of his email, with full headers and restated that all of the unmolested images and videos, with intact EXIF/metadata, were available via the Dropbox folder I'd linked.
At 12:01am PDT, this morning, the first moment possible (I live on the east coast and wasn't staying up until 3am on a workday), the seller escalated the claim, saying things like he supplied proof of proper packaging (he hasn't) and that I Photoshopped and CGI'd the damage and that the sort of damage illustrated in the photos isn't possible.
I called eBay this morning (and documented the call); the associate I spoke with seemed to be confused about who opened the return and that has me worried -- is eBay more likely to find in this seller's favor because he escalated the dispute that I opened, or will they actually look at the messages and the video documentation, that I linked in those messages?
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TL; DR: A very expensive laptop arrived damaged. I filmed myself opening the box and have thoroughly documented the damage. The seller is refusing the return, claiming the photos and videos are fabricated. I opened the return on the day it arrived, but he escalated at 12:01am PDT; does that make it less likely that eBay will decide in my favor?
