If your purchase was meant to be polystyrene cups and you were sent paper cups, then that means you did not get what was advertised. That's plain & simple.
What you need to do is open an 'item not as described' or 'item does not match the description' claim in ebay.
I am not sure exactly what the wording will be in their drop down menu, but something to that effect in any case.
You don't need to go to consumer affairs, you don't even need to contact the seller, just open a claim.
You should get a refund. Follow through with your claim. The seller will also have to issue you with a label for return postage if he wants the item back.
The fact that those sorts of cups are now banned in WA should not & probably would not come up in the claim. It is a buyer's responsibility to make sure their purchases don't break any local laws or regulations & if you had an item that was seized by customs or Auspost, then that would be on you.
You would not be able to claim on ebay for it.
But that's not what happened. You didn't get the item you paid for, clear and simple. I don't think it is a case of the seller just sending a substitute because of any law and in any case, if he wanted to do that, he would need to contact you to ask if you were happy with that or would prefer a refund.
So just open an item not described claim-item ordered does not match the ad description.
And follow up later with factual feedback. Don't mention opening a claim-just say the cups you were sent did not match the description in the ad, very misleading.
