Paypal Questions - Help, Disputes, Transfer Money

No, nothing has happened.

I am asking what paypal's protection is if you send someone £300 and they don't ship me a phone.
Paypal says they only cover you if the person has the amount in their account which sounds pointless to me because if you were going to rip someone off you'd take the money out asap.

Paypal pretty much always sides with the purchaser. Even if you do receive the phone, there's nothing stopping you stating that you never received it (unless shipped by recorded/signed for), opening a paypal dispute and them then returning your money...