Gumtree item lost by Hermes - how to resolve?

[MidnightHangingTree]

I recently bought a second hand, fairly bulky item from a seller on Gumtree. As they were not local to me they agreed to send with Hermes; they made sure that they declared the full value (£50) to ensure it was covered by their insurance. I paid via Paypal goods and services so that I was protected. All good so far, seller has been lovely, then Hermes lost the item.

The seller is going to make a claim with Hermes for the lost item, however they rightly pointed out that if they then refund me the full amount they will have lost out as they don't now have an item to sell.

My thinking is that they should claim with Hermes for their refund, and I should claim with Paypal to say that the item never arrived in order to get my refund. After all, is that not what the fees on Paypal Goods and Services are for? However, if Paypal find in my favour, will they claim the money back from the seller? I've seen various things online about Buyer Protection and Seller Protection, but can't seem to get a clear answer on this.

It just seems really unfair that either of us should lose out when Hermes are at fault, especially when we did everything 'by the book' to make sure we were both protected.

Has anyone been in a similar situation and managed to resolve it?

[ceeveebee]

But surely if the seller receives the claim from Hermes, they won’t have lost out? They will have been paid twice for the item (once from you, once from Hermes) and refunded once (to you) so they are in the same position as they would have been if it hadn’t been lost?

[FrogFairy]

You claim via PayPal and the seller claims via Hermes insurance so neither loses out.

[MidnightHangingTree]

@ceeveebee you're right, thank you so much! I knew there was something not quite right with what she said, but I couldn't work out what. Not sure how I didn't figure that out