"...expressed my concern about the prevailing belief that buyers always lose." Did you actually mean that Sellers always lose?
Ebay's hands like any other money processor does have their hands tied when a CCC [credit card company] is involved. These types of claims are called Chargebacks. Ebay has next to zero influence.
When you got the chargeback, did you submit any evidence to the CCC from the claim? That is something you really need to do if you have any hope of winning the Chargeback. Without it you will certainly lose.
You should have attached copies of all the emails sent to you from the buyer, a copy of the order, a copy of the listing they purchased from and anything else you can think of. Without that info the CCC isn't making a decision seeing ALL the info that is important.
So if you can still appeal it do so, but make sure you provide the CCC with all that information. If you can't still appeal it, then contact the police department and file a report. Keeping the product and the money isn't legal, yet CCCs have gotten away with it for many years.
In fact, file the Police report before you submit an appeal. Include the police report number in the information you send to the CCC.
Also make sure you report the buyer to Ebay. While this may not seem important, it is. It is really easy to do.
https://www.ebay.com/help/selling/resolving-buyer-issues/reporting-issue-buyer?id=4084
mam98031 • Volunteer Community Member • Buyer/Seller since 1999
Message 7 of 122