Sorry, Secret Agent Man, in all my years on eBay, "Happens all the time" happened only once a few years ago and I got my money back as order was insured.
Yet I've always wondered what new outrage eBay will offer up even as I sell my wares there daily. They never seem to use common or any sense other than promoting the San Fran Liberal Agenda and outright greed!
Yet I must admit they do have a place where the customers are and that makes it the place to be for selling online. Other online auctions sites are a waste of time. I know because I've placed 400 auctions a week on one site and over a period of a year, I sold less than 50 items. On eBay I pay much higher fees, but I regular have paying customers.
Thusly, right or wrong, eBay is the place to sell.
I've sold on eBay for many years and occasionally have a bad buyer, but I use Delivery Confirmation on each and every order to keep PayPal buyers honest and insurance to protect myself on expensive items or with buyers I don't know or trust. I charge a flat $3.00 shipping fee on most small items and have not had a complaint on this charge in several years. On an order less than $50 and heavier than 3 ounces, it actually cost me $3.28.
My Positive feedback is right now at 3,131 positive against 6 negatives from years ago.
My main complaint is the raising of listing and final value fee while eBay is spending huge amounts on television commercials in prime time. For years eBay has been a world wide web cultural icon and few, if any in the western world, do not know what eBay is.
Drop all those $200,000 plus a pop 'Shop Victoriously!' 30 second TV ads and lower the fees for the folks (US SELLERS!) who pay the bills and stock dividends!
Obviously you’re a power seller, so this probably won’t be much of a problem for you. But for those of us selling “amateur” style, this is a killer. Especially since any postiive Feedback we’ve managed to build up will expire after 12 months.