Something similar has happened to me a couple of times. One time I got a buttonholer instead of something else -- don't remember what. The seller sent me $5 to return it. (I think this was before paypal). But recently it happened to a friend -- unfortunately it was a case of the seller not wanting to sell the item for the price that my friend paid, so instead of sending him his antique rug, the seller sent a box of video games. My friend told the seller what happened, and he denied it up and down -- said he never had any video games. One of the rare dishonest sellers on ebay. So my friend opened up a case and ebay sent my friend a pre-paid packing label to return it with either UPS or USPS, whichever was more convenient. It does require effort on your part, but it will work out in the end. It is a rare occurrence, and I'm really sorry it happened to you. But don't write ebay off -- the vast majority of transactions go off without a hitch. But I should tell you that my friend did not read his email carefully enough -- he had only 7 or 14 days to return the box (can't remember which), and he did not return it in time so he lost the case. And he didn't even leave negative feedback for the seller because he missed the deadline for that, too.