In 2014, I paid $1800 dollars for a product online that I never got. I don't have a way to find the seller and pursue small claims. Can I get any relief for that loss?

[apfundhe]

All my payments were made through PayPal, and their window for transaction disputes was up before I was scheduled to receive the product anyway (based on an agreed-upon completion date). My credit card company would not be of assistance after a year, and I didn't know they were an option.

I could pursue small claims court, but the costs of my money and time to get to California (where the seller last lived, though I haven't been able to find a recent location) plus the possibility that I may not even collect, lead me to believe it's probably not worth doing.

[Anita01 · Accepted solution]

You could deduct a theft loss if you had filed a police report, but it probably wouldn't be worth your time.  Before you get any deduction for the theft, you have to subtract $100 plus 10% of your Adjusted Gross income from the loss amount, so if you made more than $17,900, you would have no loss to deduct.