Buyer swapped my item out for a cheaper version and now is issuing a return

[tofumoment]

I sold an unopened computer processor on ebay and now the buyer is claiming that it arrived with the wrong processor inside the unopened box. The processor he's claiming was inside is $200 cheaper, and I'm guessing he replaced it with his old used one so I'd be getting screwed over pretty bad. What do I do about this? He has requested a return and now i have a few days to accept.

[reallynicestamps]

and I'm guessing he replaced it with his

But you haven't received it and this is still just a guess?

Tell him to return the item with the original packaging.

EBay will probably instruct you to send him return shipping.

If he is in the USA you can make a USPS label using Shippo even if you did not originally use Shippo to send.

The cheapest tracked USPS service is First Class International Package, which is right down at the bottom of the list on page two of this website.

https://postcalc.usps.com/?country=10440

You might also want to review his Feedback Left for Others for clues whether this is a practice of his. Crooks are pretty dumb and often leave information about other scams they have pulled or tried.

Here's the thing.

If you refuse the return, you won't get anything back but eBay will find in his favour. He keeps the item (because you refused it) and gets his refund.

Then eBay comes to you, and the bank account and credit card you attached to your PP/MP account, and takes the money they refunded. You also get a Defect.

If you get the item back, you can work with police, the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre*, and postal inspectors to put them out of business.

EBay won't be much help. They are a corporation, not law enforcement.

If you work with law enforcement, eBay may reverse the refund-- if only by giving you a courtesy refund from their own pockets /insurance.

*https://www.antifraudcentre-centreantifraude.ca/index-eng.htm

[tofumoment]

He sent pictures of the box, it has clear plastic so you can see inside that the box contains the wrong item. I just meant I'm assuming the item is not only the incorrect processor, but also a used one. Ok, thank you for the information, I will look into that.

[reallynicestamps]

Politely tell him that he has the wrong seller and that he should inform the seller who did ship that item.
And ask him if he is convinced that it was your shipment that he open a Dispute with eBay.

And ask him to report the theft in transit to the USPS postmaster and postal inspectors and to his local police.

Ask politely to be given the report numbers.

Crooks are loathe to get any authority involved.

[ilikehockeyjerseys]

Go to his profile. 

Click 'Feedback as Buyer' - read all his feedback and look for any accusations of doing this previously. All buyer feedback will be green 'positive' feedback, because sellers cannot leave negative feedback. But you will often see with scammers that they get positive feedback with negative messages.

Click 'Feedback left for others' - read all his feedback left for others, look to see if there is feedback where he refers to there being issues with sellers, even things like "Great seller, there was an issue but he took care of it" - along with more nefarious things like "seller sent the wrong item!"

If you aren't on managed payments, look at the Paypal transaction. Get any names and e-mails associated with the Paypal account that may not have been on the eBay order.

Call eBay. Explain what you explained in the main post. If there is any feedback indicating previous issues, bring that up. Provide any of the Paypal info that might not have been on the eBay transaction.

They will probably put the case on hold, investigate it. Very small chance they close the case. Them most likely result is that they will ask you to provide a return label so that he can return the item. 

It is important you actually do this, otherwise if you do not provide the label they will refund him and he will not have to return anything.

From here, he will either back down and not return the item - or he will do the switcheroo. You can call eBay to ask for what kind of documentation they would need to prove he switched out the item. They might just say photograph the box, and the item inside. For piece of mind, it might be best to set up the return label so the item can be picked up at the post office, and you can film the opening of it with your phone. With that said, that won't help you with eBay, it might be useful if you choose to escalate things to a civil case or if you choose to report them to USPS for mail fraud.  I have no idea how plausible either of those things are, but USPS does have a portal on their website for reporting mail fraud. 

At that point, I'm unsure how likely you are to have eBay rule in your favor. It is my understanding that issuing the return is no guarantee that eBay will rule in your favor about the switcheroo, but if you don't provide the label they will 100 percent refund the buyer.

So again, it's very important to compile all your evidence and call eBay (don't use the chat or e-mail). There is a slim chance if the buyer has done this came before and has been reported by other sellers, that they will close the case. 

edit: Also, when calling eBay, be sure to ask them to walk you through reporting the buyer. You can do this in your sale history for the item.