A friend of mine sold a computer mother board. He was paid but then the seller claimed that all he received in the mail was a piece of wood in the box.
Ebay made my friend refund the money, and he was out a mother board.
Correction: “but then the BUYER claimed that all he received was a piece of wood”
I’m unsure how such a scam could be averted. The post office will vouch that it delivered a package, but can’t vouch for what was in it. Could your friend have insisted on being returned (even at his expense) all the packaging material and the “piece of wood”? Then he could have weighed it and compared it to the Post Office documented shipping weight, and if they were different, could have reported the case to state or (yeah, I know, ludicrously overloaded) Federal authorities.
Shame on me for not following the advice given in the above post regarding a delivery receipt.
The very day after I refunded the scammers money, eBay notified me that my account had been hijacked, and I was out $230.00.
I know many people that have had positive experiences with eBay for years, but I've been batting .500 at best, and have finally stopped doing business with them.
It's just not worth the hassle.