ebay scam/help What should I do?

[triadafillia]

Hi!
On December 28th I made a sale on a handbag for 600$. Buyer paid promptly and I shipped.
When the item arrived, buyer contacted me saying that item was not as described (truth is that there were some details that although I thought were seem at photos, they weren't.)and she wants to return it.
I responded immediately, apologizing and of course I agreed to cancel the sale. I refunded the payment and also sent money for shipping back the bag.
Buyer said that will ship the bag immediately and sent me tracking number (I specifically asked for a shipping method with tracking number and I paid for that) and then sent me a message saying that there was some problem and she would ship next day. I said ok. After that three days passed and I had no sign of her. I sent her a message then asking when she will ship and the answer I got was "I will ship as soon as I will get back in town"!!!?! I reply explaining that this was an unaccepted reply and I don't even know what that means. It's been a week since then and I have no sign of her. I messaged her again the day before yesterday and I still ha no answer. Please help me, I feel that I m beeing scammed here. I don't know what to do.
Ebay says that I m not covered from Ebay protection cause I refunded the payment before i get my item back!
But when I cancel a sale ebay clearly states that its advice to buyers is not to agree unless their money has been refunded!
I can't believe that I was so stupid.. I don't know what to do!

[GinoParisian]

"I m not not covered from Ebay protection cause I refunded the payment before i get my item back!"

That's exactly right.

"ebay clearly states that its advice to buyers is not to agree unless their money has been refunded!"

Yes. The buyer returns the item, THEN you refund the money, THEN you send the transaction cancellation request.

"I can't believe that I was so stupid."

This is why newbies should not buy or sell expensive things on eBay. It's very easy to mess up and lose your money.

You can stop sending messages to the buyer. She is not going to send you the purse.

[flower]

You were stupid not to read Ebay policies and rules. You dont issue a refund until you receive the item back. You are being cheated thats for sure. Contact Ebay immediately by going to Customer Support on your page, then put in the proper question. Click on the Contact tab until you get a phone number. Sellers dont have any protection. You cant cancel a sale after it is paid for. Cancelation is before the person pays. If you shipped the item insured you can put a claim in for lost package if you didnt use a tracking number but that is dishonest because you know the buyer has the item. This happened to me before. Ebay suggested i contact the police in the buyer's city and report a theft. They can go to their residence and investigate. So you called Ebay already ? Call them again. They can email the buyer to ship your item back at least.

[Au DeSuzanna]

I would think that e-bay should have some account and contact information. File a claim with E-Bay anyway and state that you were a victim of fraud. Fraud is still a criminal offense, whether you were "stupid" or not (you were just being honest and assuming others are too). You can pursue it legally, but I'm not sure of how much an attorney would cost to do it. However, e-bay should cooperate. Contact e-bay first and get all your records of the transaction and the buyer information. Good luck to you. E-bay is scary - I was a first time user and there are just so many mistakes you cam make - you are not alone, though.

[J]

fortunately, you have learned your lesson, but that still does not take the bite out of the product and money loss.

contact paypal, inform them, then contact the buyer by messaging through both ebay and paypal (copy paste same message), tell them they need to return the handbag and supply you with the tracking number or you will contact the police in their area and report it as a fraud for criminal investigation

[Kittysue]

You can't do anything. You never refund anyone until you have the item back in your hands. Why would you refund the money and trust some stranger to send your bag back? Unfortunately you learned an expensive lesson