Ebay item lost in the post - advice please

[nappydaysagain]

I am very new to selling things on ebay and already i've hit my first hurdle.

I sold an item on ebay (only for 99p) and posted it 1st class Royal Mail and obtained certificate of postage. Buyer paid by paypal.

Buyer has contacted me to say item didn't arrive. They've checked sorting office and it's not there. I have relevant form from post office. Should I be refunding the buyer whilst post office looks into missing parcel or wait until post office gets back to me?

You should refund the buyer imo if a 2 weeks have passed since posting the item. I always have, it has happened to me twice. You can then go on to claim yourself via royal mail though prob wouldn't be worth it for 99p.
I'm going through this at the moment but from the other side. I haven't received my item and the seller is dragging her heels saying she wants to claim from royal mail, can I be patient etc.
i've told her if I still haven't received the item or a refund by the weekend I will open a case and get a refund that way.

Thanks for the advice mmmitsdelicious. Good to know what's good practice when this happens.

you have to refund the buyer as the post office claim can take three months. have just lost £45 myself this way

Will you get your money back eventually lolo?

Had a broken item once which I sent from UK to Ireland. The buyer sent a couple of photos of smashed item which I had to print out and filled in a refund form to send to post office.

Checked with buyer that they were happy for me to use their address on form and I refunded them via paypal.

A few weeks later the post office sent me a cheque so wasn't out of pocket too long. Just a bit of an inconvenience really, and a lesson learned not to send fragile lamp things overseas!

i don't know. You have to have the receipt, which i did. I filled in a lengthy form . It wasnt enough, it got sent back. I dont really understand the info they heed now..something about an ebay page. I 'd provided listing number, it wasnt enough. I also resent royal mail having access to my ebay account like this.
The £45 is two items..one missing to Czech Republic the other a cup and saucer that was very well packed but RM still managed to break it (sent to England..I'm in England)

lolo before sending to the post office to claim you can take it into any post office and they will check it before sending it through to the claim department.