Should I open a case against this seller? I am confused.

[wyx_x]

Ebay has recently sent me a message stating:

"We are writing to let you know that the listing for the following item you bid on has been removed [...]

We strongly recommend that you do not complete this purchase[...]

 ***If You Have Already Paid***
If you have already paid for this item but have not received it, you should act quickly to get your money back.

- Contact your bank to stop payment if you paid by check.

- Contact your credit card company if you paid by credit card.

- If you paid by Western Union or MoneyGram, contact the company directly (Western Union 800-325-6000 or MoneyGram 800-926-9400).

- If you paid with PayPal, you may be eligible for up to C$2,000 coverage at no cost. 

1. Log in to your PayPal account.
2. Click the "Resolution Center" tab at the top of the page.
3. Click the "Report a Problem" link.
4. Select "Item Dispute" and click continue. Follow the directions to open a dispute and escalate to a claim."

The thing is, I have already paid for the item. But only 5 days ago. And before the item was removed from listing, the seller had marked it as shipped. Since the seller is based in China, am I supposed to wait a bit more to see if I receive the item before I open a dispute?

I don't really understand why the seller would remove the item from a listing though; does this indicate an almost sure fire case of scam? (since doing this removes my ability to give them feedback?) Or could there be other causes?

I've never had any problems before when buying on Ebay, but this message is worrying me, and escalating to a claim sounds kinda scary...

[wyx_x]

I also just surfed through my received feedback and finally found the seller on Ebay again. Their profile says that they are "no longer a registered user". Does that mean I should probably just go ahead and open a case, instead of sitting around waiting for a non-existent package to arrive?

[femmefan1946 · Accepted solution]

Don't panic.

You are covered by eBay and Paypal's Buyer Protection Program.

Go to Paypal. In the top right corner you will see Resolution Centre. Click on that and follow the easy steps. In the text box, say that the seller is Not A Registered User. PP will refund you and go after the seller for the money.

The seller was tossed off eBay for fraudulent activity. Don't bother waiting. Open the Dispute now.

There probably is no shipment, but if it does arrive and is satisfactory, you can repay the refund directly to the seller through Paypal, OR refuse the shipment and have the post office return the shipment to the seller. Ethically, you can't have both the money and the item.

There are a few other reasons than fraud that eBay will close a member's account, the most likely being non-payment of fees which happens when  a seller's credit card expires and the new expiration date is not uploaded. However, this is rare and usually is a small time North American seller, not a large Asian company.