I’ve been doing a little research and think aside from the ACCC, disaffected sellers should also lodge a complaint with the Australian Prudential Regulatory Authority (APRA), specifically questioning why eBay was granted a licence to provide insurance services to buyers’ on its site, without that licence being made subject eBay becoming a member of the Financial Ombudsman Service.

I would also suggest it might be prudent to ask for an explanation as to why, they allowed two related companies, both of which come under their jurisdiction (eBay and PayPal) to enter into an agreement which allows one (eBay) access sellers funds held by the other (PayPal), without the requirement to judicially prove the existence of a debt. That is, whereas ordinarily an insurer can only recover from a third party after the right to recover has been judicial determined, eBay, in concert with PayPal are now able to access sellers funds by simply asserting a right to recover against the seller might exist.

I would also steer them to these boards so that they can see for themselves the self-service manner in which the claims process is being managed by both eBay and PayPal, and the often infantile reasons given when attempting to justify claims outcomes.

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@gtx305 wrote:

Demand to speak to a supervisor (and keep demanding it and calling until they do), get names / times / dates of your phone calls and ask if they record phone calls - request that they do.

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You can also request the details of the conversation be noted on your records and always get a Reference Number for the conversation  (Learnt that one here on the boards ! - thanks folks)

Congrats chabra and best of luck gtx - don't give in to them !

Good news, result as it should be.

I purchased an item the other day, in my purchase history - on the far right side is:

Visible:

Leave feedback

Contact seller

Then drop down box

View order details 

Sell this item

Return this item

and several more options.

Buyers do see the contact seller option first, rather than the return option being the most prominent. A lot of sellers complain the buyer goes straight for the return/dispute option  without contacting them first.

For the item I bought the last week, this is what I see:

I think it's disgraceful. It is actually encouraging thoughtless purchasing and sends the message that buying on eBay can end in disappointment/dissatisfaction. It is a counter-productive strategy imo.

I have quite a bit in my Purchase History at the moment and most of them dont show the return this item link, that is in the dropdown menu. There are 4 where return this item is visible, so it seems to be a bit inconsistant. The ones where it is visible are all from sellers I've bought from before, so it's not like it's a first time purchase. The 4 are scattered through my purchases, so not even like they were before a certain date where they may have changed the view after then. Who knows?

This one is for an item where both seller & buyer have left feedback

The example I posted in previous post, no feedback left by buyer (me) as I hadn't received it at that stage.

I haven't bought from either these sellers before.

I have one of each. I can't find a difference between them why one would have and not the other one except for time frame.

The one I have not bought from before has the big blue visible link. the one I have purchased from before has it in the drop down menu.

Better you ask on the forum for eBay USA where you are

Rather than post on a thread from 2015 on the eBay Australia forum