Thanks for all the replies on my post. As for my post, we kept our promise. After we stated our intention to persue legal action against ebay and the dishonest buyer, ebay decided not to persue the money. Concluding, the dishonest buyer got the item for free, completely refunded by ebay.

Thank you for the replies and the useful advice, really appreciate it. Yes, we have the original document of authenticity and receipts. The other main point is that the buyer after being fully refunded, has not returned our property. A crime so far under british law. My husband and I are now considering to open a small court case against this buyer.

My husband and I have been happy ebay members for several years. Quite recently approx. 1 year ago we decided to sell a few things on ebay. We have sold only a few items on ebay and almost each time, we experienced issues with problematic and dishonest buyers , we have been cheated from dishonest buyers and ebay, so much that we decided to stop once and for all to sell on ebay. First to start with, we are always very accurate with our descriptions, selling only genuine items described fully, providing normally 10 or 12 clear photos of the piece by showing every part of the objet, together with an accurate written description. We also advice to email us in advance in case of any query or question from the buyer and it is clearly stated in the listing that we are only private sellers therefore we do NOT accept returns for any reason. The recent main problem with ebay is that so many buyers are abusing the ''returns policy'' by falsely claiming that an item is '' not as described '' or '' not genuine '' when it is well described and absolutely genuine. Here briefly what dishonest buyers do : 1- They buy your item 2 - they FALSELY claim that it is ''not as described'' once they get the item 3- initial blackmail emails from the buyer, then if the refund is refused they will force a return by opening a case with ebay 4- they will get their money back and also your item too for free !!!!!! This is what the recent ebay ' returns policy ' is all about. eBay is now a free rental agency or more like if you are a buyer '' buy what you want, get your money back and keep the goods for free, no worries ebay will take care of everything !! '' So here the last terrifying story happened to us just a few weeks ago. We sold an antique mirror with embroidered frame from the 17th Century, purchased personally a year before from a reputable auction house with included documentation of authenticity. The buyer did not ask any question prior to buy the item, he purchased the item, took a week to pay for it and only after we emailed him. He received the item carefully and professionally packaged in two large new thick boxes with a full roll of new bubble wrap and tape, new boxes costs £10 each and at no extra cost for the buyer, the same day that the item was delivered, we receive an email from the buyer stating that '' the item is not genuine and I want to send it back '', all nonsense because the item is absolutely genuine and well documented. We refused to accept the return because the item was accurately described and genuine plus it was stated, no returns in our listing.. two days later the buyer opened a case in ebay, we then provided full written evidence of the authenticity of the mirror and frame from the reputable auction house where we purchased the item from to ebay, and they just did not care !!!! Ebay refunded the buyer the following day and told the buyer to destroy the item !!!!! then ebay billed us with £1,000 and we lost a rare valuable item too !!! the criminal buyer does not reply to our emails, he received the money back now from ebay, he will not send our item back anymore, ebay told him even to destroy the item !!!!!! .. by the way the buyer did not provide any evidence of this with any photo when he was supposed to provide evidence of the item being destroyed. There is no doubt that the buyer ( a highly dishonest smooth criminal in this case ) knew very well that the item is authentic, he made up all this nonsense to get fully refunded by ebay and having the item for free. He knew what to do and how to get our item and money back. We have been completely cheated, we lost a rare valuable item and money but ebay will not see a penny from us . except for the listing and selling fee already paid. We provided full evidence of the authenticity of the piece which it has been completely ignored by ebay plus the item has NOT been returned to us so we are more than happy to solve the matter with our sollicitors if needed. Meanwhile, never again. My advice to other ebay members is not to sell anything on ebay , more than ever now with this recent revised so called 'returns policy' !!!! .. but if you are really thinking to sell on ebay anyway, be aware of these criminal buyers and particularly that ebay always side with the buyers, no matter what and no matter if you have evidence to prove otherwise, they will ignore your emails, your evidence or proof, unless you show them a letter from the police or your sollicitor and even with this they might still ignore the whole thing. As mentioned, this is the last time we get betrayed from ebay.