> I've read that sellers sometimes list in other countries to get around the PayPal buyer protections

The buyer protections don’t really vary much, but it’s true in some countries they get more protections but it’s more regarding to buyer’s remorse rather than Items Not As Described.

> or otherwise get paid via some unprotected method

At least in North America (and maybe everywhere else), you’ve been required to pay via eBay for all transactions for the last decade or more. No more money orders, bank transfers, cheques or wire transfers or cash. And you can’t easily contact sellers/buyers directly anymore, it’s all through the platform and they block a lot of suspect messages/keywords.

I don't know, man, I just know there's a lot of fake listings on eBay. I don't know what they're getting out of it, but I assume they're not just doing it for fun.