Sending items overseas-how does the compensation work if the parcel is lost?

[aswellasyou]

I'm selling things on eBay at the moment and a woman in Australia has emailed to ask whether I would send things to Australia. She doesn't seem too fussed about postage costs (by Parcelforce). I would only send things if they're fully covered by insurance but I don't quite know how it works. I was looking at Parcelforce Global Express which compensates up to £200 and is tracked. It seems that the insurance doesn't cover me for sale costs, just purchase costs if you're a buyer. Is that the case? I'd be grateful for any input.

It needs to be something like Airsure I think, that is completley trackable. I refuse to send overseas now having been stung once too often!

You don't have to send by Airsure to be covered by compensation. Sending by regular Airmail covers you up to the same amount as the compensation for domestic 1st and 2nd class - currently £41. You must get a certificate of posting.

However, if you do have to claim, it is a bit of a hassle. You have to fill out a long form, provide evidence of e-bay sale price, certificate of posting etc.. I recently claimed for a package to the Netherlands which didn't arrive, and was refunded the cost of the Airmail postage plus the sale cost of the item - only £4.84, but still worth it!

oh wow, thats good to know, and I wonder if its changed, mine were a few years back...buyers both asked for refund via paypal and got it as I had no online trackable means of proof of postage!

Sorry - should have clarified. I refunded buyer via PayPal and then claimed from Royal Mail.

Thankyou Purple. It's now £46 maximum compensation. The problem I have is that I don't know if the items will come to more or less than £46. I'll have to tell her she can only bid up to that to get the cheaper postage costs.

Hah! Royal Mail haven't updated their website:

www.royalmail.com/portal/rm/content3?mediaId=400391&catId=400036

I had forgotten that 1st class stamps had gone up in price recently!

Actually, if the item is likely to be that expensive I would go with Airsure anyway. I have always used Airsure for items over £10-£15. It just seems a bit daft to use it for cheaper items where the postage will end up a lot more than the cost of the item!