Will I be able to receive a refund for a fraudulent item without paying return postage?

[bstuhan]

I recently purchased an item from the website of what appeared to be a legitimate retailer based in Japan, and paid through paypal. The item has not yet arrived, but the shipping confirmation number indicates that it was, in fact, shipped from Hong Kong (red flag right there).  More searching suggests that this particular site may sell pirated items, passing them off as the real thing.

So when it eventually arrives, I am of course going to file a claim if it appears to be pirated material.  My question is whether the only way I'm going to get my money refunded is to pay the rather hefty cost of sending registered mail back to Hong Kong, or whether, since Paypal obviously shouldn't want sellers to be able to sell illegal goods through their service, they will give me the refund without my needing to pay return postage.  Part of me is wary of the fact that even if I did send it back, I would need to trust the already dishonest seller to confirm that I sent it back, which I rather doubt; they would probably say I didn't send it back, or the sent the real thing and I sent a bootleg.

So am I **bleep**ed on this, or will paypal be reasonable?  I'm sure I'm not the only one something like this has happened to

[donaelivsfan]

I did the same thing.  I bought this item from Hong Kong and then I just got a funny feeling after I hit the send button.  I started doing research and found that this website sold fraudulent items.  I called my bank about 2 hours later and tried to cancel the transaction.  The bank lady said there was nothing she could do, the payment had already been deducted from my account.  She told me to contact paypal, that they are very helpful in these situations. I contacted paypal by phone and filed a claim that same evening (December 16, '09).  My status of the claim showed that a decision  by paypal would be made January 9, 2010.  Today I get an email stating that they haven't made a decision yet. I'm starting to wonder if I am ever going to get my money back.  It cost me $88.99.