Item shipped, but not received - refund, or what?

[seocomsale]

Hi All,

Just wondering what is the common accepted practice here on ebid. I sold an item beginning of March. Shipped the next day (overseas from US to GB, so tracking not available) Beginning of April, buyer said he did not receive anything. Just checked back with buyer and still nothing received. (one of a kind item, so I cannot send a replacement)

What is the common practice by sellers here on ebid, refund full amount to buyer and eat the loss as the seller, partial refund, do nothing and chalk it up to an inefficient postal system???

Thanking everyone in advance,
Stan...

[hurryb4itsgone]

Sorry this happened.

Personally, I would offer the refund and eat the loss.

Just as a point of information, tracking is available for overseas shipments via the USPS.

[meebo1]

does the US postal service reimburse losses if you can prove the item was posted? I would certainly reimburse and then make a claim. I may only get stamps and not cash, but I use those too

[JaBek1]

does the US postal service reimburse losses if you can prove the item was posted? I would certainly reimburse and then make a claim. I may only get stamps and not cash, but I use those too

Only if you purchase insurance, I believe.

[meebo1]

That is something said for the British Post Office

[jannersmugs]

In answer to the OP UK law is you must reimburse the customer.

Royal Mail only reimburse if you are not a business customer...go figure that one.

Janners

[raindropsies]

Hi All,

Just wondering what is the common accepted practice here on ebid. I sold an item beginning of March. Shipped the next day (overseas from US to GB, so tracking not available) Beginning of April, buyer said he did not receive anything. Just checked back with buyer and still nothing received. (one of a kind item, so I cannot send a replacement)

What is the common practice by sellers here on ebid, refund full amount to buyer and eat the loss as the seller, partial refund, do nothing and chalk it up to an inefficient postal system???

Thanking everyone in advance,
Stan...

Not difficult really, would you be happy with no item and no money if you were the buyer?
As a seller, it is up to you IMO to make sure that the customer gets what they paid for or their money back in full
What the law says for your country and what it says for the UK is just the basics, to me it's more a moral issue.

[suesjools]

Sorry this happened.

Personally, I would offer the refund and eat the loss.

Just as a point of information, tracking is available for overseas shipments via the USPS.

What Hurry said. I use USPS Priority Mail or Priority Mail International for all items, costs a little more but it has end to end tracking and items less than $500 are insured automatically. Might be something to think about.

Sorry for your loss, it sucks this happened. Hopefully it was a one off. I'd contact the P.O. as Meebo suggested, it couldn't hurt, it may be stuck in a sorting office somewhere and they may be able to locate it. Here is a link that might help:

http://www.wikihow.com/Recover-a-Pac...st-in-the-Mail

Best wishes for many sales to all,

[cambrensis]

... it's more a moral issue.

Absolutely! Work to the principle rather than the letter.

[seocomsale]

Well I refunded the buyer, but PayPal won't refund me as it is outdated, plus, eBid won't allow me to mark item as refunded as it is archived, so I guess I take a loss here too. I hate having to put up with the postal system, both domestic and foreign...They are both slow and incompetent. "end of my rant" I do want to thank all of you nice people though for your thoughts on this matter and certainly wish easy carefree sales to you all...Stan...