Item dispatched 8 days ago, buyer saying don’t get it

[whataboutbob]

I sold an item of kids clothing and posted off 8 days ago. Got an email today from buyer saying it hasn’t arrived. Stupidly, I think I threw out the post office’s receipt. Is there anything I can do? Does Royal Mail ever really just lose stuff?

Yeah, refund situation. Anything over a fiver I usually get signed for. Was the value very much?

This is why I no longer use EBay.

I've lost 2 things in the past few weeks. I would derelict whether the snow has held things up. I would wait till the 2 weeks is up.

senua That's a shame you've had a lot of bother. I think if you use signed for you're covered. I've had a couple of buyers try it on but as soon as the signature evidence is offered up they have dropped it.

I sent something off last Monday (tracked) the buyer hadn't recieved it and it's still showing as Royal Mail have it! There seems to be some delays at the moment, I'd ask the buyer to see if they can wait another couple of days and then refund if they still don't receive it

I just had my first not arrived message for an ebay sale. I posted the item 6 days ago. I think it will be the gpo backlog from the snow so have asked buyer to wait till Friday. I would ask your buyer to wait a few more days.

Same here - I think the snow has messed things up as well. Fortunately I've got the proof of postage that I sent it the day after I got the money and asked for a couple of days longer to see if it arrives.

I forgot about the snow

I did some ebaying a while ago and all the buyers claimed the parcels hasn't arrived. Last time I sell on eBay.

*hadn't

I'm a buyer waiting for something nearly a week overdue - I am hoping it's held up by the snow. It's a low value item and not showing as having been sent tracked. I've decided to give it till the end of the week before contacting the seller - seller has v. good feedback in the 1000s so doubt it's their fault.

Yes, I've had loads of claimed no shows. I will no longer use eBay. Royal Mail don't count an item of mail as lost for something like 21 days. Ask your buyer to hang fire until the two week mark, OP. 8 days isn't very long and weekends don't count.

Thanks everyone. We have had our ordinary mail including child’s secondary school offer held up so fingers crossed it’s the situation here. I have asked the buyer to wait 3 more days and let me know if there is still an issue. The total value here was only £6:50
Just a question: if you just get Royal Mail 2 nd class, keep the receipt, is there any record of whether the item has been delivered?

There's no notification of delivery for standard postal service eg not recorded.

In future, just use the standard mail for anything £20 or less and keep the proof of posting. If your buyers says it was lost you can refund after 10 working days and claim the value of the sold item + the postage (but not packing) from RM. It's a pain but quite straightforward.

Anything £20+ I send via myhermes as it is insured as well as tracked.

I've only had around 3 lost parcels in 10 years of selling (00's of items)

Also just a tip photograph those proof of postage when you send them

There's no notification of delivery for standard postal service eg not recorded.

Yes there is. As long as it’s a parcel (not a letter), there is a reference number you get on the proof of postage which you can enter online and it tells you if the item has been delivered or not.

Ahhhh
Handy thank you!

THanks guys, I a, a bit on an eBay beginner so this is really useful. Photo of the proof of postage is a great idea.

I have had a buyer claim not to have received an item, they contacted me 3 weeks after to say they havent had it! Thrown proof of postage now, so have to refund as no proof but it is leaving a bitter taste in my mouth as I absolutely know I.poated it.
Another one never using Ebay again to sell

Another one never using Ebay again to sell

Why?

If you’d kept the proof of postage then you could have checked to see if it had been delivered. If it had, you would have won a not received case, and if it hadn’t you could have claimed with Royal Mail so you wouldn’t have been out of pocket after refunding the buyer.

Things occassionally do go missing in the post you know.

It seems your problem is the fact that you threw away the PoP, not ebay!

What do you mean, why? The amount of fraud on eBay is phenomenal and quite a lot of it is postal. There is no seller protection and buyers are becoming increasingly rude. I've had loads of abusive messages because something someone paid 99p for didn't turn up next day after they'd paid 2nd class postage for it (I only ever put 2nd class as I can't get to the PO that often). It wasn't always like that; it used to be a friendly and easy way to get rid of your stuff, but now I've got people critiquing my postal media because the tape was 'ugly'. That's why.

19lottie82 Really? I kept the proof of postage for three weeks!
That's more than an acceptable length of time for a buyer to contact me surely, and say "Hey the parcel hasn't arrived yet " and I can send them the tracking ref number.
I've Ebayed for 11 years so I do know how it works. I found your post rather patronising.

I personally won' be using Ebay to sell again as like a pp has stated there simply isn't any seller protection anymore, and the tone of some buyers messages I have had over the past 12 months or so are becoming more demanding imo., and it's just becoming a bit of a hassle.

I am finding the Facebook selling sites in my area a quicker and easier way to get rid of stuff, HTH

I send 3 to 4 ebay packages a day via post office first class. An item goes missing once a month or so (fewer than 1% of sales) Mostly lost in the post - sometimes I suspect I've been scammed. Regardless I replace or refund. If it's a UK based I replace/refund after about 10 days.
My items are all free UK p+p so I only send tracked if over £50 (or if I think the buyer or address looks dodgy).
I've found PO compensation to be so useless that I write off any losses.

Really? I kept the proof of postage for three weeks!
That's more than an acceptable length of time for a buyer to contact me surely
and say "Hey the parcel hasn't arrived yet and I can send them the tracking ref

No, it isn’t. Buyers have 30 days after the delivery estimate to file a non receipt claim and 180 days with PayPal.

I've Ebayed for 11 years so I do know how it works. I found your post rather patronising.

With the greatest respect, from your comment above, you clearly don’t, otherwise you would have uploaded the reference number against the sale as soon it was sent and held on to the receipt for 180 days, not just three weeks.

there simply isn’t any seller protection anymore

Of course there is. If you’d have kept the details for the stated length of time, then you would have received that seller protection, but you chose to ignore the rules to maintain it.

I personally thought the buyer would have contacted me before three weeks though to say they hadn't received it but maybe that's just me.

You clearly know what your doing on Ebay far better than I do, you're correct.

OP ignore my grumblings.