Buyer says item not received

[daisydalrymple]

Just that really. Sold a next girl's raincoat of dd's a few weeks ago, and have had a message saying she's not received the item. I've had a look round the eBay help pages and on here and it seems I have to just pay up full refund?

Have always just sent items normal seconds class with proof of postage, but reading on here it seems that's not worth anything? So if I give a full refund just by them saying they've not received item, is there anyway I can inform eBay? (Just incase this person has not received items before..) and is there anyway of me chasing this up with the post office?

Is my Hermes the safer way to post re tracking items? I don't sell loads, but tend to have a dozen bundles every few months (children's outgrown clothes, toys, my stuff (decluttering slowly)). I send the toys bundles by my Hermes as they're bulkier so it's cheaper than post office, but not used it tie normal sized packages before. Thanks if anybody around!

I always thought it was best to send them either signed for/recorded. Then you have proof that they did receive it. It's what I always do anyways and then they can't turn round and say it hasn't been received as you have proof it has.

If you have proof of postage you may be able to make a compensation claim with the post office - look online for the claim form. You will however need to refund the buyer first, as the claims through the post office will take a couple of weeks at least (I also recall there's a minimum time you have to wait before claiming to check it is definitely lost) I had this happen with a pair of shoes and did eventually get a cheque from the post office for the value and cost of postage.

Yes you have to refund.

You an apply for compo from Royal Mail, but unless you can prove what you paid for the item in the first place (NOT what it sold for on eBay), all they will give you is a book of stamps.

PS before you refund, however, get the buyer to open an official not recieved case with eBay. This puts a lot of would be scammers off.

Always send it using a recorded method of postage

I wouldn't say ALWAYS, it's just a matter of using your common sense to work out if it's cost effective to spend the extra £1 or not....... As passing the extra cost on to buyers will undoubtedly put them off.

You an apply for compo from Royal Mail, but unless you can prove what you paid for the item in the first place (NOT what it sold for on eBay), all they will give you is a book of stamps.

This isn't necessarily the case, what Royal Mail does varies. I've used proof of posting to get a full refund based on the selling cost on ebay.

There's no problem with not sending items tracked or signed for just so long as you're aware you're open to be scammed. It might work out better to pay cheaper postage and get scammed once every 10 items (or whatever, I suspect the scamming rate depends on the type of items sold). Personally I pay for tracked/signed for because I find ebay cases a real drag to deal with and like to minimise the chance of them happening.

Thank you all fur the replies, it's really helpful. I've never bothered with the signed for postage, as it's often eg bundle of a dozen babygrows, so as mentioned I don't want the postage charges to put off buyers, but I'll consider other options now thanks.

Also great tip about asking buyer to open item not received case, thanks.

The last time a buyer said they hadn't received the item I sent, I asked them to open an Item Not Received case. They did (I'm aware it might put off some scammers) and I immediately refunded. I didn't get a defect.

Does immediately refunding an item not received case always avoid defects on the seller's account? I believe this to be the case but couldn't find it having had a quick google.

Having a case opened against you doesn't mean a defect these days. You only get a defect if you fight it and lose.

Thanks. Ahh, good. At least it gives sellers a painfree option to make buyers open cases to get item not received refunds.