Scammed by Ebayers? Or Postman Pat on the prowl?

You see, my flatmate is a big ebay fan, so a while ago I thought 'hey, why not give it a go'.
I was a little aprehensive because, in my often over-cautious mind, I did have the thought 'oh, but what if I pay for something and it's not delivered?' or 'but what if I send something and the buyer then recalls their payment?'. But a few sales later, and all was fine! In fact I'd bought and sold some real gems!

Then a few days ago happened...

I had a beautiful satin feel boned black corset that I'd originally bought for £50 and absolutely loved. When I left university, I upped my exercise and started eating better and drinking a little less and, damit - my boobs shrunk! Instead of creating that certain VA VA VOOM that a well fitting corset should do, my boobs just sat inside, with a little room to go. Great. So I stopped wearing it.

So, step in ebay. Ad created? Check. Any buyers watching? Check. Sold on the closing date? Not for as much as I'd have liked (considering it was still in immaculate condition), but all the same - check. Funds cleared? Check...

So far so good....

A few days later, whilst I was just making sure funds had cleared before I sent the item (and I still had 4 working days left to send it)... impatient message from buyer demanding it be sent asap as they want it for their night out at the weekend... check.
OK - so at this point I thought ' email etiquette sweetie - you want something I've got - learn to be a little nicer', but as the funds had cleared, out I popped to the Post Office to post that, alongside a skirt I'd also sold at the same time.

All good yes? For a week I'd say, yes. Then, a few days ago, in drops a little message from paypal to my inbox:

"there is a dispute on an item you sold and payment has temporarily been put on hold - please respond to the buyer as soon as possible".

Well, my colleague had warned me that he'd once sold something that had in actual fact been sent, but the buyer recalled payment later on, leaving him out of pocket from postage costs, penniless from the item, and no item either. I swear he jinxed me at that point.

I check my messgae from the buyer, telling me they want to know what's happened to the item. Well, after that previous impatient email, my suspicion flared up, however, I replied stating that in actual fact, when I had replied the first time around saying the item would be posted immediately and delivered the next day, it should have been as I stated as I had gone straight out and posted it, and still had the receipt from the Post Office. Had they not heard anything at all yet?
The reply? " No. Can I have a refund please?"

Now - I can understand that if the item genuinely wasn't received, they would want their money back. In which case - I want my item back AND my postage - after all they cost a helluva lot more than said Ebayer "paid" for it!

So I'm in a predicament... I have proof of postage purchase from the Post Office, but according to Paypal that doesn't suffice. So maybe this Ebayer is scamming me - realising that I had been too trusting and evidently not protected myself from being scammed so decided to reclaim their money AND keep the item... in which case I would like to say what a despicable lowlife thief they are... Either that or Postman Pat has been on the prowl with his theiving little fingers again.

What I haven't mentioned however, is that the other item that I sent from the same post office, at the same time, has been problem free and delivered. No questions asked.

I am not impressed.

Am I the only person apart from my colleague who this has happened to? Probably not. And I probably won't be the last one either. It will certainly make me think twice about trusting Ebayers again. Not Ebay - the site does as it says, although maybe they should start to place a few clear warnings on the site about potential thieves...