Depop seller deleted their account once I bought the item.

[Tai-Mai]

Hi, this was my one of the first items that I bought in Depop ever. I messaged the seller if the item was okay and everything and she replied saying yes so feeling reassured I bought a pair of I am gia trousers for £60. A few days later I asked the seller when will my item be shipped, I didn't get a reply which I thought it was weird, and then a day later I checked again and the seller has deleted her account as the item and her account says not found. I'm worried I'm being scammed and I'm very upset as this is the first purchase I made with Depop. Can you help me please, I'm a student so I cannot afford to loose lots of money like that, I don't know what to do. Please help me as I've been scammed!

[kernowlass]

@Tai-Mai 

As long as you did NOT use the family/friends option then you should have buyer protection so............

How do I open a dispute with a seller when a purchase goes wrong?

You can open a dispute in the Resolution Centre of your PayPal account within 180 days of payment if:
•You don’t receive the item OR service
•You receive an item but it’s significantly different than the description on eBay or on the seller’s website (or you receive a totally different product).

By opening a dispute, you can communicate directly with your seller to work out a problem transaction.

If you reach an agreement with the seller you can close the dispute. If you're still not happy with the result, you can escalate the dispute into a claim. Paypal will review the claim and decide on reimbursement.

These steps apply to Personal accounts. If you have a Business account, please log in to see the steps that apply to you.

To open a dispute:
1.Log in to your PayPal account.
2. Click on the transaction and use the resolve a problem option at the bottom of that details page.

Note:
•Generally buyers must wait at least 7 days from the date of payment to escalate a dispute for an item not received
•Where an item has not been received, please ensure you have given the seller enough time before opening a dispute

Do not close the dispute until you have a refund or your item.
If a seller states that they can't refund until you have closed the dispute don't believe them.
Escalate the dispute to a claim within 20 days (before it times out), if you need Paypal to get involved.

If you lose because the seller provides a fake tracking number then post back here for more advice.
If the item arrives and its not what you ordered / not as described then make sure you change the dispute quickly from non receipt. If the dispute times out before you can change it then contact customer services to open a second dispute for the new reason.

Activate the below link in case you have to return the item at Paypals request (or the correct one for your country as this is the U.S link).
https://www.paypal.com/us/webapps/mpp/returns

If that does not work then if you funded your paypal payment via a card then contact your card issuer and see if they will issue a chargeback.