OP

Quoted from jgelman:

One thing about zero protection for the sellers on ebay, I will have to share this story. I do not sell things often.
I had an old Sony NTSC monitor, and I figured Goodwill. However, I looked it up and saw it was of value to certain gamers using older games and thought fine, I would sell it as auction. They often went for a few hundred, but I made it local pickup only on the listing and I figured it would just be a quick local sale. I did not want to deal with shipping and the sale price was on the low side.
I mentioned in the listing description that it was local pickup only as it was in the official listing, but I indicated that is someone really wanted it shipped and would pay for packaging and shipping the the UPS store, I would as a courtesy, take it to the UPS store, but I could not be responsible for anything at all.
So, the buyer was not local and wanted me to take it to the UPS store. I did and took pictures.
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The buyer then emails this:
The monitor arrived today. It got damaged quite a bit in shipping. I tried to turn it on, but nothing, no picture. (see pics attached). Would you be able to file a claim with the UPS Store that shipped it? I greatly appreciate how you worked with me to ship it over local pickup, and also the refund of the difference in postage price.
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I reply this:
Sorry to see that happened. I enclosed a picture I took of the unit without damage on the scale at the UPS store. Quite a difference. When I listed the item, I saw one that sold for $350 that was in inferior condition to mine, but I figured I may get less due to the local pickup only emphasis. I was OK with that and would have been ok with donating it. The main reason I sold it saying local pickup was that it seemed to have value to gamers and I hate to see things not go to people who value them. I also said, if someone really wanted shipping, ok, but I would not want to have any responsibility for problems. I was very upfront. I did take it to the UPS store, and did not charge a penny above what I was charged. It is my understanding that the buyer or the seller can file a claim. I enclosed that picture to be of help. I would ask that you please contact UPS.
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The buyer emails this and makes a return request with ebay which blocked availability of my payment:
UPS encourages the shipper to file the claim, not the recipient. You're able to physically go to the UPS Store that packed the monitor insufficiently. You also have access to all the information needed by UPS in filing, I unfortunately do not. I also do not have the information on how much the monitor was insured for, which they will need for the claim, as well as the receipt from The UPS Store proving they themselves packed it. I also don't know the exact amount it cost to ship the monitor in the first place as I have no sales receipt. I put my trust in you in that regard.
The monitor was wrapped with one thin layer of bubble wrap and next to no cushioning on all sides and no indications outside of it being a "fragile item contained inside." Were you able to watch them pack it? I politely requested to you in advance that they use thick cushioned corners and plenty of packing material to allow it to float in the inner box within the outer box as I have shipped and received many of these in the past with no problems. I don't think my integral request was communicated to UPS, so unfortunately you yourself have an obligation to be at least somewhat responsible even if you won't accept it up front. Please don't put in your listing description that you're willing to ship, if you're not comfortable in shipping an extremely fragile and heavy electronic device. This was also an auction with no reserve price, I'm sorry you didn't get to the $350 price tag you saw for a similar monitor that sold, but this is how your auction ended.
Please communicate directly with your local UPS Store whenever you're able to, as you've dealt directly with them in the past week. I've sent many pictures of the damage and also of the address label on the box proving it was accepted and shipped by them. You have the picture of it at the store before shipment. They should be able to handle this sort of thing. Or I'll send it back to you if prepaid label is provided.
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I called ebay and explained and the result was:
We reviewed this case and have closed it without any refund to the buyer.
The case will not affect your seller performance. Any feedback left for this transaction will be removed.
The request did not meet the criteria to be eligible for an eBay Money Back Guarantee claim.

I see from the email from the buyer that he was in the business of flipping monitors. I was just trying to help out someone that may have wanted one. I could have just donated it to Goodwill and saved the hassle of taking it to the UPS store and dealing with this issue.
This is how I sold my KOD, local pickup only but I offered to help ship as a favor with the understanding that my responsibility ends when someone shows up and confirms the machine is ok. So far my machine has not yet been picked up but the money has been released to my account and so I am in a good position. Moreover I have a great feeling about the buyer and we have had excellent communication.
Anyhow, just thought I would share. The reason I say local pickup is to avoid hassle and have the buyer make sure all is well at the time of taking possession. However, I want to help people who want something who are far away. I once wanted this guitar amp and the seller said local pickup in Florida. I offered to pay any way the seller wanted and offered to arrange for someone to come pick it up and package it and I would pay for the insurance and provide a signed document that I am responsible for accepting it as is etc. Still, the seller declined. That is the right of the seller, and I did not want to fly across the country, but I would not want to deny someone who really wanted something over this.