Buyer says not received the item....

[Acorn123]

It's one of them where you don't know to trust them or not, or whether you have to refund or not. So I sold a miniature perfume to somebody in Germany! Sent it 1st class large letter, now it's been a month. I mean sold it for £9.99 + post. It'd be so annoying if the person actually had it ! Anyone had the same issue and how did you deal with it?

You should have sent it recorded delivery I guess

Did you get proof of postage? If so you can claim from Royal Mail

Unless you have proof of postage you're screwed. Always send recorded delivery. They've probably received the item, yes. But you cant prove it can you? Learn from this and only offer recorded delivery from now on.

Thanks for your messages! I do have a proof of postag By all means. But would I get anything back as it was a Large Letter?

No, it needs to be signed for. That's the only way you can prove that the buyer received it. The slip you get from the post office is worthless.

Proof of postage means nothing

business.help.royalmail.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/319/kw/Proof%20of%20postage

Maximum £20 compensation. Must put in a claim within 80 days.

Thank you all!
A wee bit annoyed but I admit .. my own fault for being trustworthy lesson learned. On a positive side, one thing less in my makeup draw lol

Make sure the buyer opens an official not received case with eBay before you refund. This may scare off any potential scammers and also keeps everything by the book, plus you will only need to click one button to refund and all your fees ect will be refunded automatically.

Did it not go through Ebay Global Shipping Program?

Isnt it illegal to send perfume in the post abroad

bruffin is correct.

It's a right pain in the arse and loads of people have no idea. I scored a discontinued perfume on eBay and the seller had to tell me she couldn't post it by air because it was illegal to do so.

business.help.royalmail.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/898/~/restricted-goods---uk

Declaration requirement uk etc. Each destination country also has its own laws which equally apply....not sure about Germany.

It did yes, is there anything I'd need to know

@19lottie82 thanks I keep that in mind!
@LightYears the above comment was a response to your question

@RebelAllianceUK Thanks for the link.. sigh
Oh well .. it was only a 7.5ml bottle.

I've used the Global shipping loads and it tracks it doesn't it, tells you when it gets to final destination. Is the seller going against Ebay tracking? I think there might be some hope then.

@LightYears just looked and strange it doesn't have the estimated delivery on it.. maybe because it's been too long?
I mean it did show it a while back and I told the buyer to hold on, then she was quiet for a bit and then messaged me saying that still nothing.

I suspect its been picked up at customs.

@bruffin arghhhh it might be you Know ..

Posting to Germany is a right PITA - I have a friend out there who this year alone has had 11 parcels go missing.

Have you had first email from Ebay saying they've received it at their shipping hub? If so, then surely you'll be covered. Customs sounds about right. I posted perfume to Europe once and it got stuck at customs and confiscated. I got the rest of the parcel back weeks later, only because my house number and postcode was on it though. This was via Royal Mail. Ebay will probably wash their hands of it because it's a prohibited item. I hope not but just chalked it up as a lesson learnt I suppose.