In your place, I would probably have gone through ebay first then paypal if that didn't work. You can't do it vice versa. But I only know that because it is what I have read on the boards several times.
However, I have made some claims via paypal. Not for ebay purchases, mind you, but I don't think that makes any difference.
With my first claim, I believe the seller was given 7 days in which to reply. They didn't (the company was in receivership) and after those 7 days, I was able to go in and proceed with the claim by saying there was no resolution so I needed the money back and I was then refunded. So not really a long process and quite smooth.
With my second claim, it was not through my own account, I did it on behalf of a sister in law for an item not received afetr 6 weeks, supposedly an Australian based item.
To my surprise, the refund was automatic, instant. The seller never had a right of reply etc
I am assuming this may have been because my SIL had never raised a claim before with paypal and it was not for a large amount (about $40).
The third instance was not my own claim, it was my daughter in law's claim.
She bought custom sized wallpaper from overseas but when it arrived it was much paler and washed out compared to the online photos and when she hired someone to install it, they said they could not do it as it was very thin and would not hang straight if they tried. So she opened a claim of not as described. She lost.
I don't know exactly what she wrote in her claim, she may have said it was poor quality. The seller did respond, claiming it was exactly as described. Paypal decision was the they do not guarantee things for 'quality'.
So my advice is if you make a paypal claim, you will need to articulate exactly what is wrong with the item. It will actually need to be faulty. If you are unhappy with it because it is poorly finished or disappointing quality, then you are more likely to lose.
