Is this a Scam?

[Demeroller]

Hello, community. I sold a pair of adidas Yeezy on eBay couple of weeks ago. The seller asked me to change the address and I did it. But he messaged me after I dropped the shoes in a local USPS office, said that he got hacked and this was an unauthorized payment and PayPal would cover me, then I received the dispute. I gave the tracking number and any information asked but PayPal still decided to favor of the buyer. I feel it is a scam cause the buyer know all the rules and set it up for me. This is my first time to sell item on eBay and it is definitely a bad experience for me cause I lost 250 dollars and have nothing I can do about it. I don't know if someone encountered any type of this before me.

[sharpiemarker · Accepted solution]

@Demeroller 

Yeah, with brand name high value merchandise, you need to watch out. On eBay, the other sellers will advise that if you're a new seller, start with something cheap or modestly priced and work your way up to expensive stuff, sought after brands to get a feel of "what's out there". Scammers will see you're a new seller and take advantage of your inexperience. Maybe this buyer got hacked, maybe not.

Changing of the address is your undoing. Never change address post-payment on expensive goods, (on cheap stuff, maybe, go with your gut and buyer feedback). Refund and then get buyer to repay with correct address or better yet, cancel the order as "problem with buyer address" to avoid eBay defect on your account and move on.

Really take the time to read the eBay user agreement and how their protections and return policies work. Ditto with the PayPal UA/seller/buyer protection program terms. 

All is not lost, this is paid tuition on a lesson learned.