Buyer purchased and paid for item, claims child did it, held payment and now in debt to PayPal

[banj0123]

I'd like to start off with by saying that I'm a relatively experienced eBay seller - I've been selling on the site for a year now and have dealt with a limited range of issues like items broken on arrival (I gave a refund and let the buyer keep the item).

So, I recently put up for sale a pair of used Beats Solo headphones (dreadful, I know) as Buy It Now for $75, and they sold extremely quickly. They were also paid for extremely quickly, which would be nice if, a day later, the payment wasn't held by the buyer and I now wasn't in debt to PayPal while they review the whole issue. Upon recieving this email, I immediately check eBay - no message of any kind had been sent to my account. Wanting an explanation, I fired off a quick message to the buyer for information. This is, in full, what she came back with (the PayPal account holder seems to be a woman):

"it will be coming back and want to be credited  for it paypal will contact u I did not order them my foster hacked my paypal account"

I seriously don't know what to make of this - I have already posted the item, I provided PayPal proof of postage in the form of a reciept and tracking number and now all I can do, apparently, is wait. I've checked out the buyer's story, and it seems to add up, as she has 100% positive feedback and the person who ordered the item has a different name to the person who holds the PayPal account (not to mention she has purchased items completely unrelated to what I sold her), but that message is so crudely written and I find it hard to believe her child 'hacked' into her PayPal account. What can I do if she's simply left her computer free to use and forgotten to log out? What happens if I get the item back but PayPal ends up returning the funds?

So my question is this - do you guys think her story is legit? I've had the old and tired "my kid did it" excuse before, but this one seems legitimate as the buyer has actually paid for the item. Any predictions as to what will happen next will be greatly appreciated, and if I have to pay off my negative PayPal balance, how long do I have to do so?

[phorum_junkie*]

Who cares if her story is legit or not, as long as you posted using full tracking (either click & send or ordinary parcel with signature required) you are covered against a chargeback.

I would send the following email.

I am sorry it appears you allowed somebody to gain access to your Paypal account however you are responsible for anything purchased through your id and as the item has already been dispatched I would appreciate it if you would either withdraw the Paypal claim or make payment again using bank deposit. Once you receive the item if you wish to return it I will be happy to refund item price only.

If you do not cancel the dispute, make another payment or return the item I will have no option but to report you to the police as no matter who ordered or paid for it you have the item.

[banj0123]

Thanks for the help.

[*crikey*mate*]

if paypal sent you an email confirming payment and telling you "it is now safe to ship" and you posted the item before the "don't do it" email, then I can't see why you won't be covered by PyPal if you provide the tracking number and proof of lodgement (is it showing on line?)

and if it is "fraud" she's just dobbed her foster kid into the police I would think, as I doubt PayPal will just let a hacked account slide.