No response from seller when requesting refund, never received item

[mhcarus]

I had ordered an item on December 11, 2017 and have not received any sort of confirmation from the seller, have not received the item and the seller has repeatedly ignored my requests for a status update. The only type of dispute PayPal will let me open is for unauthorized activity. What can I do?

[kernowlass]

@mhcarus

If the only dispute you can open is for unauthorised activity then i guess you must have paid using the friends / family option, yes?

If so then  >>

A friends / family (or gift payment) is intended as a transfer of funds from family or friends to one another. For this reason, there is no processing fee when payment is made with bank or PayPal balance.
On the other hand, as it is a “gift” payment, there is also no Buyer protection as no goods or services should have been exchanged.

If he was not a close mate or family member you should never use that option as it enables the seller to evade his paypal fees and negates your buyer protection at the same time.
You also risk having your account limited for using this option when you are purchasing goods.
Your only hope is if you funded your paypal payment via a credit card then contact your card issuer and see if they will help you.