Scam? or what?

[Hoodboogie]

So I purchased an item off of eBay. I sent the money via PayPal. After talking to a friend of mine at work who had recently been scammed on eBay he said I should open a dispute via PayPal. So I called home and had my wife open a dispute as I do not have access at work. She opened the dispute. The seller emailed me after basically stating that it isnt a scam and he can provide whatever proof I made need. My wife said she read on the open dispute section of PayPal that they hold the funds. The seller told her that he saw where the transaction was made but now it tells him that the funds are pending because it is over $250. My wife responded to my email saying that the dispute would be closed and he could ship the item. So I gave her the okay and the dispute is closed. Therefore allowing him the ability to make a refund or ship the item.

Now the fun part, I come home tonight and read the emails (via eBay) and the seller has 0 reviews through eBay but I did find some items he sold. He has also been a member since 2004. So that I am not extremely worried about as we all started somewhere. What worries me is after reading some on the forums here and the PayPal FAQ that now the dispute is closed I cannot re-open it. He could have refunded the money (which at one time he had agreed to do) without us closing the dispute. I want to be mad at her but I gave her the OK and it is my account.

If it winds up being a scam is there anything at all I can do. Can I contact my bank? Will PayPal help out at all? Will eBay help me?

Thanks

Scott

Edit: Also, this was paid via Bank Account. I looked at my current/avail funds and nothing has been charged yet. Will this help me in the long run?

[BigKahuna97]

How much time has passed since you purchased the item?  The fact the dispute is now closed is a big problem unless the seller keeps his end of the deal and ships the item.  The only recourse you would have at this point would be to place a stop payment on the bank account you used but you would also need to be sure to refuse the sellers package when it's delivered or it could be considered interstate mail fraud. On top of that if the seller does ship the item to your door I would at least re-pay him shipping and handling (box cost and packaging).