Probably returned because the buyer realized the silver tea set was in fact silver plated.

After viewing the items in question and reading the description I found it deliberately misleading. nowhere in the description do you mention the tea set is silver plated. And the title states

Lovely Ranleigh silver tea set and tray - ornate silver plate teapot and set.

When the teapot set is in fact sitting on a silver plate, to the less experienced buyer one could assume that the set was solid silver especially considering there is no mention of the set being silver plated in the description.

So many sellers on Ebay Australia feel the need to fluff & deceive buyers to make a sale. I'm not saying you did, but rather than complaining about buyers it would be better to police sellers because many are giving all of you a bad reputation. So much so that I refuse to purchase any objects containing precious metals through Ebay Australia, much preferring to deal through the US where what you buy is exactly as how it's described.

Probably returned because the buyer realized the silver tea set was in fact silver plated.     Lovely Ranleigh silver tea set and tray - ornate silver plate teapot and set.

What part of the title is misleading?  I can very plainly see the words silver plate in that title and I can also see the words silver plate in the first line of the description.

It is quite possible that the buyer did not read either the title or description, but how is that the seller's problem?

Are you so naive?

Poster has no problem describing the item as silver plated in their post but nowhere in the description or title is the term "silver plated" to be found.

Ornate silver plate teapot & set when in fact the photo of the objects are actually sitting on what appears to be a silver plate?!?!

No doubt in my mind seller avoided the facts why else wouldn't the term "silver plated" appear in the description?

One could argue that it is the buyers fault for not reading between the lines. but far better for all buyers just to avoid buying precious metals from ebay Australia.

I would be inclined to go through the Auspost procedure to claim compensation then, if paid out, send the money through to the buyer. Then you have lost nothing, the buyer will have $50 in compensation.

Otherwise offer to return the item to the buyer at their expense.

You must receive the item back via registered post and yes the buyer does have to pay for that postage as item wasnt faulty.Then you refund when received.

there is NO compensation payable by Aust Post, there is no way to claim thru aust post, it wasn't even a registered parcel, but even if it was registered aust post do NOT offer a fragile service, and only compensate if the damage was OBVIOUSLY caused by mishandling by Aust Post (that means you need to see Truck Tyre marks on the box before they even consider it!!!!!!!!!)

Ornate silver plate teapot & set when in fact the photo of the objects are actually sitting on what appears to be a silver plate?!?!

yes, that is how I read it 🙂  only after the OP mentioned they have silver plate in the title I realised that "silver plate" does not refer to the tray

...and I am sure that if the buyer searched for "silver teapot" it would have come up, and assuming that if you search for "silver" you get silver, it is quite possible they did think they got one of the famous eBay bargains.

Very true in all respects Super Nova, as an example type solid gold nuggets in search and you still get gold plated or even worse copper nuggets dipped in 24k gold (which I can only assume is being sold to catch the unwary).

I honestly thought good things about ebay but after scouring the pages for 12hrs a day for the last 3 weeks I've found there are more scammers than honest sellers in the jewellery section and will avoid it like the plague in future.

It's unfair to accuse the OP of anything. The buyer hasn't even given a reason for returning the set. Apparently he thinks it's okay to return things for no reason. The OP seems genuinely concerned about finding a way to resolve the matter but I see it as unfair for him to be required to make a full refund when most of the set is damaged.