The official policy is probably to have buyers destroy counterfeit products to prevent their circulation (possibly at the request of manufacturers?), and that's the reason this happened.
pretty stupid policy when applied to antique violins.
The manufacturer for that matter has probably been out of business for 70 years.
Yeah, that seems like what happened. A company like paypal that deals with literally every type of transaction imaginable ought to have a little bit more flexibility in their policies.
While I do get their point of preventing counterfeit circulation, who's to say that it is counterfeit? Paypal? The buyer? Unless they have a violin expert on board their team which handled the product physically, I don't think anyone should have the "right" to destroy something that's not proven as counterfeit.
Next week: counterfeit kitten claims lead to international PR disaster for Paypal.
Frodo should have just sold the ring via eBay as a counterfeit 'ring of dancing +1', had Paypal deem it fraudulent and then had Paypal use its magical powers to destroy it.
'The Eye of San Jose is on us, Samwise Tibbon!'
Paypal has a "Crack of Doom?" Actually, I'm more amused than surprised.