Oldest trick in the book?

[CakeNinja]

Sold something on eBay, buyer asked a few questions prior to purchase as to whether the item was a genuine or not (it was genuine), then went on and won the bid.

Paid promptly, was posted on Monday and buyer is saying she hasn't received it. I paid first class delivery but not recorded or special or anything. I have 2 receipts from the post office but neither of them have a tracking number. They do confirm the item was posted and to her address. Where do I stand?

[SloanePeterson]

I'm not sure this one can be put down to the buyer unfortunately. I always send things recorded to avoid just this situation as tbh you now have no choice but to refund her. I hope it wasn't too much money to lose, but learn from it. Always, always post recorded. It might still be on its way though, we seem to be having problems with Royal Mail atm, my son posted me something from his school last Friday which is just down the road, and it's still not arrived.

[languagelearner]

That's why I often write in the ad itself that the buyer stand the risk during transportation, there's a word for that but I forgot what it's called. I also use another carrier and try to avoid the post office. What did you and the buyer agree on?

[Jayfee]

The post office might cover up to twenty pounds if you have receipt. I think you have to refund buyer.

[Nan0second]

You need to give to two weeks to arrive and then you can claim upto £20 via Royal Mail.
The buyer can claim a refund via PayPal.

[Jayfee]

If you had your return address it might find its way back to you. I would ask buyer to wait till next week before refunding in case it arrives late.

[nauticant]

Either the buyer has not received it or has received it and is lying. Find out from the transaction when the last date of delivery is supposed to be and ask the buyer to wait till then. You might want to persuade them to wait a bit longer than that but there's a chance that will get you negative feedback.

As far as ebay are concerned they have no way of knowing if the article has been received and if the buyer opens a case they'll automatically win.

If the item doesn't turn up by its last date of delivery, you have a number of choices:

1. refund at that time without arguing;
   
2. refund if the buyer opens a case;
   
3. fight a case and lose meaning the money will be taken from you; or
   
4. remove all money from your Paypal account, be in debt to Paypal, and walk away from ebay and Paypal. (I really would advise against this.)

[nauticant]

Oh, and what Jayfee said about claiming compensation from the Royal Mail. But this is something you do independently of settling things on ebay with the buyer and you shouldn't keep the buyer waiting while you're waiting on what the Royal Mail choose to do.

[19lottie82]

Nan0second....... not one part of that is true!

OP, has the buyer opened a not received case yet? If not then ask her to do so so eBay can "officially record the loss". This puts a lot of would be scammers off.

If she does open a case then unfortunately, if you can't prove delivery then you will have to refund (but get them to confirm the delivery address first). I'd ask her to wait until Monday to see if it shows up, but IME if it hasn't shown up by then, then it's not going to.

Royal Mail will make you wait 2 weeks until they refund you but eBay guidelines don't stretch that far, so there's no point delaying refunding the buyer, you're just likely to annoy them and risk negative feedback.

You can then claim from Royal Mail up to the value of £20. You can do it all online.

Unfortunately eBay is full of scammers. I'm not saying all not received cases are the result of them (I think a lot are due to posties not leaving cards), but I think a lot of them are. The only way to avoid this is to send your items recorded. It's only an extra £1.

[19lottie82]

Nan0second my apologies I misunderstood your post. Yes the OP can claim back from RM after 2 weeks and the buyer can open a PayPal case (although eBay is usually the norm). You are correct.

[CakeNinja]

I'm not bothered about negative feedback, its only the 5th time I've used it in about 10 years to sell something, I usually just give things away on my Facebook page (as I'm for free on my own personal page not that I have a selling page!)And I would have given it away, but no one I asked wanted it!
It sold for about £45 - a Michael Kors large purse, brand new, tags etc, got it for Christmas but not my kind of thing at all.
Oh well, you win some you lose some.
Of course there was a return address on there, but I'm not hopeful it will turn up at either address.
I'll tell her to file for a refund, I think this has proven to me that eBay is not for me!

[CakeNinja]

Sorry, meant to say thankyou for all your posts :)
You live and learn!

[CakeNinja]

The buyer has not opened a 'not received' case yet but I'll ask her to do that now.

[19lottie82]

No offence OP but sending something worth £45 without proof of delivery or adequete insurance was just plain daft.

To maintain your seller protection you must send things recorded. (Signed for)

EBay is a great place but you must take the recommended steps to protect yourself.

Negative feedback risks aside you will have to refund one way or another so you might as well do it straight away.

[CactusFred]

This has happened to me so always send recorded now as proof of postage not sufficient and PayPal gave them their money back.

I think they pulled a fast one tbh but what can you do?

[CakeNinja]

19 yeah I realise this now. I never really post anything, I never looked into the various options, in the default option was first class and I just went for that.
I have asked her to raise it via eBay the proper way, we have been in communication since she bought it, and she knows she'll get her money back due to the buyer protection.

I think she's pulled a fast one too, but as you say, nothing I can do about it now!

[nauticant]

Sounds like you're approaching it the right way OP. Be philosophical, follow the rules of ebay, learn for next time.

Your options are pretty much (i) get the buyer to open a case and then refund without argument or (ii) fight, lose, lose the money, and risk getting negative feedback.

[Jayfee]

do royal mail give any compensation if the item sold for more than 20 pounds??

[19lottie82]

jay yes, it will just be capped at 20.

[Tanith]

Do claim back from RM if you can or, at the very least, report it to them.

There is a family on our estate that has pulled this trick so often that the couriers and delivery vans now refuse to deliver to them. They have to go into the sorting office and sign for anything sent to them.

[Timefor2]

Definitely don't do anything without an open case. We sold a phone last year and managed to lose the special delivery/recorded receipt and then the guy claimed he hadn't received it. I said I was opening a case with Royal Mail and so didn't refund, left it to see if he opened a case (risk of negative feedback of course). Nothing even came of it and it was about £200 for him to have purchased the phone so that showed me he definitely was trying his luck. I assume he'd done it before so never opened a case as Ebay would have been onto him? Obviously a risky approach but maybe worth stalling a little if you don't care about the change of negative feedback. Way too many chancers on eBay for my liking.

[upwardsandonwards33]

Hey OP, any update?

[Previously1488218868]

It is useful to leave feedback which says 'Sorry your item went missing in the post' so that other sellers can see there might be a problem.

Sometimes they don't check with the delivery office, I always tell them I will be doing this and usually the item will appear suddenly.

Sometimes the postman doesn't leave a card and just takes it back, and it will be returned to you.

[lljkk]

I have left exactly the f/back ("sorry your item went missing").

[wobblywindows]

I agree with above, put in a claim for compensation with Royal Mail, who may make their own inquiries. RM compensation details change every few years - worth checking their website every time. Btw I've noticed that postie will occasionally drop a Recorded Delivery envelope straight thru the letterbox without getting a signature from the recipient.