Firstly, as a "hobby" or private seller, under Australian Consumer Law you're not required to offer a refund policy, regardless of what eBay may say, although naturally, if an item was damaged in transit you would feel obliged to reimburse the buyer for his or her loss, and I don't have a problem with that at all as I'd do the same thing myself. However, if somebody accidentally damages the item after it has been safely delivered, it would be wrong of them to expect you to be responsible for their loss and I would flatly refuse to do so.
The problem is determining when said damage took place, and as your items are valued at a hundred dollars or more, I'd assume that you're posting them registered or with signature on delivery, in which case if the item is damaged during transit, the buyer would lodge a claim immediately, the very same day they signed for the delivery. Therefore, if you receive a claim for damage which is dated any later than that upon which it was delivered, it would be fairly safe to assume that any damage has been caused by themselves and that they're making a false claim which, as a private seller, you would be fully entitled to reject.
You would clearly have a fight on your hands with eBay but if you can prove to Paypal that the item was intact when it was delivered, they're not in a position to accept the buyer's claim because they can only arbitrate on INR or SNAD disputes, and nothing else. I'm expecting that it will take a test case in by one of the Consumer Tribunals or the ACCC before it can be determined that eBay have no legal right to impose these draconian and illegal conditions upon private sellers, but I nevertheless believe that in the fullness of time, eBay will be forced to revoke or alter these conditions so that they ultimately fall into line with Australian Consumer law.
