Definitely contact Ebay and Paypal. Both have links on their sites to report bad dealings. Also contact your credit card company. And if the DVD was sent US mail, you can file a claim with the post office. A big-ticket item like this should not go unpunished!

File a report with Pay pal, and Ebay for
"Item not as described" do it before 45 days are up.
They will tell you to try to work it out with the vendor. In my case the vendor was also ducking the issue, eqivocating, promising then not delivering, long enough that I had no pay pal recourse. In the end I did not want to work it out with them - costs like $25 to settle using square trade, which will retract the negative - I had already spent way more energy and it wasn't worth the aggravation, I wanted the negative to stick. I even filed with the BBB.
I ended up going to my credit card company and filing a dispute. I had all my information detailing conversations and emails. I had returned the item, they acknowledged receiving it. No problem. the whole ordeal really soured me with Ebay.
Look at the link below before you make any bids. Even then you cannot be too sure. The seller that sold me junk still has a 99.8% rating, though I think it is due to volume and who knows of the transactions are real.
Credit card dispute is the way to go. And file with the BBB where the seller is.

Here is a link that might be useful: Toolhaus

jannie;
Went the PO where I received the item. It's a small PO and they had no idea how I could file a claim through US mail- please advise me.
Thanks
Paul

If the seller sent something and it arrived in good condition, the post office did their job and is not responsible for the sellers mistake or fraud. Your best recourse is to return the item and then file a dispute with your credit card. And it will NOT affect your credit.

I'm a bit reluctant to send the player back to the seller for fear that I will end up with nothing. I will contact my CC company though. Thanks for all the help so far and I am still open for suggestions. I will keep you posted. Paul F B

File the complaint with Ebay and Paypal within the time window. Don't pay the $25 for square trade...waste of time and money. If/when the seller/Ebay/Paypal don't do anything, do a chargeback on your cc. When you do this, Paypal will send you an admonishing email, saying you should have first worked with them. This is a form email, just ignore it, because you obviously DID try to work with them first.

Call your cc company Monday, tell them the situation, and ask if you should send the item back to the seller or to them. If told to send it back to seller, be sure and send it signature required and insured. You'll be out a few bucks, but you will be better protected.

You could also post this story on ebay's bulletin boards for advice. At the top of your ebay page, click on Community, then choose Discussion Boards, then Trust and Safety.

Forgot to add, be sure and print out the auction while it is still available, so you can prove the difference in what was advertised and what was received. Ended auctions disappear after a certain amount of time.

I once bought something that was never sent. I contacted the seller, to no avail. I filed a dispute with ebay and Paypal. In the end, the seller only had $9.00 left in their paypal account, so that is what I got from paypal. (The item was $89 plus shipping.) I then called my cc company, filled out a report, and they refunded the rest. I don't remember if I had to send copies of the auction or emails regarding the situation.

At the time, refunds like this came out of Paypal's pocket. I am not sure if they have changed the rules allowing them to put a charge on the seller's credit card in the event of a refund.

All in all, you were smart to use a credit card for payment. I avoid buying anything on ebay without one.

Weed;
Thanks for the info- will call CC tomorrow. Paul F B

Called CC company and they advised to send the item back to the seller. Problem is, the seller is not a vender- has sold a few items. I called the seller's house at one point and a very literate man told me the seller was not at home. Then I got a very illiterate E-mail asking that I not call them again. The seller has not responded to the PayPal dispute but did cut and paste what looked like an official E-Bay correspondance message asking me what "I wanted him to do to make it right?" I wrote back that ( at that point) he should correspond with me through PP- which he never did.
I think I,m dealing with someone more sophisticated with the aspects of fraud than I am. Tell me, fellow Garden Webber's, would you send the item back to the seller. I,m afraid I will end up with nothing but , on the other hand,
I am a stubborn man and do not want to reinforce this kind of thievery on E-Bay. Paul F B

If you send it back I'd do it with a return receipt or insured or some method of verifying the exact person who actually got it. I realize it's more $$$ out of your pocket, but otherwise you'd be stuck with nothing. And definitely don't correspond via email.

We've only purchased thru ebay 2X. Both transactions were with established businesses and were great. A 3rd transaction we bid on something & the item was pulled before the date. We proceeded to get over 20 emails from very questionable sources which we never replied to, but it really soured me on the whole ebay thing.

Good luck--sad to hear about people like that.

If the item was purchased using paypal (which is owned by ebay), as others have said, you should file a claim immediately. I did this just recently. I purchased a new dress on ebay and when the dress arrived, I found it was a "second". The stitching was crooked and the dress had tiny pin holes up the side. I contacted the seller and she said she unaware of the holes and that I should just try to re-sell it on ebay. I told her this was unacceptable and requested again that she send my money back. She refused to do so.

I filed a claim with paypal. Paypal will only protect you (Buyer Protection) if both buyer and seller have high feedback ratings. This is an important thing to check whenever you buy anything on ebay. Look for the buyer Protection emblem. I was sent an email from paypal explaining what documentation I needed (photos, print out of the ebay listing, a letter of explaination) and they were faxed to their claims people. Paypal negotiates between the buyer and seller and you can follow the progress on the paypal site. You will be asked to ship the item back to the seller (with tracking number etc). The entire process took about 3 weeks, but I was refunded my money in full. I will tell you that Paypal/ebay definitely has a vesting interest in fighting ebay fraud, even moreso then your credit card co. If you didn't use paypal, you can file the claim with your the credit card people and hopefully they will stand behind you. I have bought and sold thousands of dollars in merchandise on ebay and only once did I have a problem, but as with anything, "compost happens". Good luck!

PayPal judged the claim in my favor and awarded me about 75% of the cost of the portable DVD player. I,m happy with this. We get to keep the player without need to send it back.
I just wish the seller could be prosecuted for his/her obvious
fraud. Thank you, everyone for your suggestions and support.
Paul F B