To think anything not sent signed for gets lost from eBay

[timetosort]

It's strange isn't it. I post things I sell on eBay all the time, mostly signed for and they never get lost. One was never collected from the post office and returned to me, but never lost in 10 years of eBaying.

The random low cost things I send just standard Royal Mail no signature, same packaging always get lost and the buyer needs a convenient refund I buy loads of eBay I can't think of anything I've not received. I think one thing was resent from a business seller.

Agree with PP if it's not a letter / large letter then anything else sent with Royal Mail 2nd Class has the 16 character reference number, doesn't give you a signature for who signed for it but tells you what time / date it was delivered. Always use Royal Mail then I put that reference number in the tracking details for the customer on eBay.. never had any CFs ask for a refund yet!

I always send items signed for, but on some occasions I didn’t add the tracking number to the transaction. Two buyers messaged stating that they haven’t received their order but went eerily silent once I added the tracking number stating delivered to the case and sent it to them directly with a screenshot of their signature.

It’s just too risky with untracked postage!

YANBU OP, this is why I don’t sell anything on EBay unless it’s tracked. Scummy people ALWAYS try to scam a freebie claiming it hasn’t arrived. I sold an item recently and the person claimed it wasn’t delivered, but I checked the tracking and it was signed for at that address by the named person I sent it to! Funnily enough once I sent the tracking number and said it had been signed for the recipient magically “found” the parcel 🙄

If eBay notice too many of these “issues” from buyers they do apparently ban accounts or automatically take the seller’s side in the future - eg requesting a police report before taking new complaints further

I have found that missing items tend to be discovered once I reply that the item was tracked but as it has gone missing I will report their name and address to Royal Mail so that they can flag it as a problem address so that they don't have any ongoing issues and that Royal Mail will investigate for them.

I do get a POP and often use signed for after looking at buyers feedback for phrases like 'Sorry your item was lost in the post' from other sellers, and will also check the address online and streetview if I get a bad feeling. Sometimes it is the lack of a safe place for parcels that results in deliveries being left on the street in view. Sometimes due to the thieves in vans that follow the postie around to pick up the stuff he has left outside which happened here in the run up to Christmas.

My listings state all items tracked which I think puts the thieving buyers off.

A perception from a full time seller on ebay and Amazon ,
I have sent items to over 4,000 buyers this year
Out of that amount I have only had one buyer on ebay and four on amazon trying to claim non receipt this year- so a tiny fraction - All were delivered and no refunds made-
I only use signed for / or courier for a small amount of more expensive items (over £60.00)
the 16 digit code on royal mail receipts shows when items are delivered , or if delivery has been attempted and it is held at the sorting office
My codes are uploaded to ebay automatically as I have a Royal mail business account- but It is certainly worth uploading manually as it does deter chancers ,
Ebay will also defend you against non receipt claims if you upload the number when you dispatch
Royal mail are generally excellent , I have had no items go missing this year so far
I do however mainly sell in a category which has mainly honest buyers

Most stuff I have sent normal post the buyer always wants a refund as ‘lost ‘ yet Signed for always fine!

@timetosort
I usually follow a link in one of the emails that eBay send you when a sale has been made. You then take it to the post office and they scan it and usually give a receipt. Tracking info is automatically uploaded to eBay.

seller protection means that if there is a tracking number and it says delivered ebay will side with seller
for business seller and ( maybe private sellers that offer returns) ebay have offered protection against people opening not as described cases rather than I wish to return as changed my mind cases to avoid paying return postage there are lots of conditions to this but some buyers say it is faulty when really it is not fitting or they ordered too many etc

YANBU! This happened to me a couple of times too.

Strangest thing is, despite a return address being written on every package, none of these 'lost' parcels ever make it back to me, the sender, yet uncollected items always do...? I now post EVERYTHING signed for, no matter how cheap/how much the buyer requests a cheaper (ie non traceable) method of postage. Things ain't what they once was

Ebay doesn't accept the tracking number if an item goes missing though. It's only proof you purchased postage, not proof you actually posted the item.

I had the same thing OP ... sold lots of DDs party dresses last summer, all arrived fine except for the parcel containing two dresses where the buyer demanded reduced postage after winning (yes, demanded rather than requested). Should have been a warning to me to do signed for. I could even see from the tracking that delivery had been made to the correct post code but that wasn't good enough for Ebay, must be signed for to count.

I always use Hermes . I have an account so the tracking is automatically uploaded. I have had people try it on , even when they've signed for it, but eBay looked at the tracking and found in my favour.
The weirdest one I dealt with as a no delivery was a skirt going to Doncaster. The buyer contacted me to say it hadn't arrived. I looked at the tracking and could see it was sat with courier. I contacted Hermes who said they would look into it. Apparently they messaged the courier on the handset and tried ringing. No reply. Sent an area manager round to discover they'd done a flit and kept a load of parcels.

I never knew about that number on the re riot.

I send things without signed for and have never had them lost. Maybe I’ve been lucky,

@Rubychard I just had a look following the link in the eBay from something I sold recently and it's doesn't say tracking for 'standard 2nd class' as it's says Tracking No, but I'll give it go. So thanks. It must be some secret magic going on I do have a hate hate relationship with my printer though, so I'll see how I get on.

@Loveislandaddict oh yes nothing I've ever sent signed for gets lost. It's the about 90% of the other stuff I send just standard via the post office that disappears. Very strange.

@timetosort
That looks like what I get when I click through on the email link. Fill in the weight etc and you pay with PayPal.

I sent a parcel using this method in the summer which didn’t arrive. Tracking showed it didn’t arrive. Low value item, inc postage £9. Took out a claim with RM and they refunded me the entire value within 48 hours.

I stopped selling on Ebay due to this issue. You know they got it, but you have no proof. If you send it signed for sometimes the cost is more than the p&p allowed.

I expect it may also vary a lot depending on the area you live. I buy a lot from ebay and have noticed a definite increase in the amount of Royal Mail items getting lost in the post over the past couple of years. Mostly ones that are sent not requiring a signature. A fair few tracked items have got lost in the system as well, so you pay a premium for a service that RM can't reliably offer. I always feel bad for the seller when this happens as I know they end up out of pocket.

Likewise I don't use my local Post Office for mailing out items anymore as they seem to lose around 30% of items I give them. I find the local Hermes like to open parcels and see if there's anything worth pinching. Half the items they have delivered to me have had parts stolen or the packaging has clearly been cut open; they don't even bother to reseal the parcel most of the time!

Sold 4 items on eBay lately. All sent Hermes, all delivered according to the tracking number. Two people claiming their parcels haven't arrived, despite signatures.

Never again.

I send everything signed for. Some do get lost, that's royal mail.

I ordered lots recently, had a few things not show up. I think it's a case of rm do lose some things and if you don't send signed for, some people are dishonest and keep the item, whilst saying it didn't turn up.

I use couriers as well and had 2 giant parcels disappear last month. They were both tracked to a depot (different depots and different companies) where they then disappeared.
I think people steal along the way too.

Also my current postman leaves them outside and signs himself, so even if you have a tracked item that's been signed for, it does not mean that the person got it.

I also lost a new phone 2 years ago. The postman let a neighbour sign for it. Left me a card. I knocked their door and they all said it was no one there that signed and that there was no package. It was a few doors down and opposite side, so I didn't know them.

Paypal would do nothing as signed for and royal mail did nothing despite my complaint. After that I got royal mail to only deliver to me never a neighbour as an alternative and then if I get a red card I go collect it myself.

However somethings have been returned to sender as no card was ever left so I never knew to collect.

I sent a package last week and got an email off the buyer 5 days later stating it hadn't arrived. Once I sent a screenshot of his name and signature on the delivery slip he miraculously "found it". Bloody chancers, it's why I send everything signed for now.

Scummiest eBay behaviour I've ever had is I won a brand new £500 Homebase fireplace in a competition, which was amazing as we couldn't afford to buy one.

It was delivered, we opened the box and immediately realised it wasn't right for our living room. I took some pics and resealed the box and stuck it on eBay with a reserve that meant if it sold we'd have enough for another fireplace, or at least most of the money towards it.

In my listing, I showed a link to Homebase, showing its current price, so buyers knew they'd get a bargain.

Ended up selling it to someone, who bid the price it was going for in Homebase. I thought this was odd, but didn't question it. Maybe they didn't live near a Homebase?!

Sent it off in the box I'd received it in. Sent with Parcel Force, fully insured.

Two days later. Buyer raised a dispute. Says fireplace was damaged. Sent pics of damaged box and fireplace. I asked why they signed for it and apparently they thought the box was just damaged.

PayPal refunded them and they sent back the fireplace. The box damage didn't correlate with the damage to the fireplace and it didn't look as pristine. I think the buyer either already the same fireplace and it broke and they swapped it for mine and sent their broken one back. Or they damaged mine trying to install it and damaged the box to support their claim.

I tried claiming through Parcel Force. They refused to pay out, claiming it wasn't effectively packaged. Even though it was in the manufacturer's packaging it was delivered to me in.

Great big fucking scam. I was then £500 down, no new fireplace and a heavy broken one to discard off. I was gutted. Really upset.

Some people are wankers.