Yes, that would have been difficult to scale, but then you'd not need a fraud department at all as both sides would be able to verify the transaction.
Seems like a business opportunity here.
Scammers are already tricking PayPal's dispute system by sending real tracking numbers and sometimes even real packages but filled with bricks or other junk.
Imagine a situation where the buyer is malicious and claims they have received a brick. If you settle in favour of the buyer, sellers lose out, but if you settle in favour of the seller, buyers would lose out from scam sellers sending bricks instead of the promised goods.
A neutral party such as the shipping courier would have to act as a witness and unpack the goods on delivery to mitigate that, and even then it's not bulletproof if the goods have a defect that isn't immediately obvious.
Good point about subtle defects. Hmm. That I do not have an answer for, especially if the seller is not aware.
Maybe it's just not possible to trust the Ferengixxx humans...
But something similar to a notary, could validate items if a certain value. I think they are doing this with sneakers and certain luxury goods.
I wonder if there is a market for this as a third-party service outside of eBay that works on their Market. It would double shipping cost and add time but that could be worth it for a class of goods
Good to know, nonetheless