I sold an item on e-bay and posted it 2nd class signed for. It hasn’t arrived. Am I up shit creek – obliged to refund the buyer and just hope it turns up again eventually?

How long has it been?

Had something similar, turned up after 10 days.

Buyer was very chilled.

Has it been signed for?

Isn’t there an official time at which Royal Mail declare it lost? This happened when myHermes lost one of ours.

Is there any insurance 2nd tracked?

About 10 days. Not signed for – Track and Trace just says “We’ve got it”. Yes I know you’ve freakin’ got it !!

Has it been signed for?

This. Also, how long has it been?

Edit: You’re not stuffed, but you will need to follow the PO procedures. Which may take a while: it’s not “lost” til 10 days after it was due (2-3 days for delivery so 12 days +). And will only cover you up to the level you paid for (£50 for signed-for unless you paid for more).

Have a look here

I’m not sure who takes the hit, but 2nd Class Signed for has cover of up to £50 (although you might have to wait a while for the Post Office to accept that it is lost) and there might be some buyer/seller cover through PayPal if that was used.

I had a similar situation with a very rare vintage Nikon.
Went ten days on a first class service. I gave refund and the next day I had an email saying he was on holiday but his elderly fathers carer had gone to the recycling bin and found the camera inits box there plus a load of other stuff.
Guy has dementia and probably thought he was helping.
Much apologising and the buyer paid me direct so I avoided PP and EBay fees.
Sort of a win. The Post Office offered to refund the postage, but they wanted to pay me in stamps…

Buyer can wait until the PO refund comes through. Even if they raise a dispute against you, they have to wait 8 days to give you a chance to resolve the situation. In the meantime, item might turn up.

I once claimed for a lost Amazon return, didn’t arrive after 10 days – PO refunded me for the item. 2 days later Amazon refunded me too. Ha. I felt so bad.

I’ve been through the RM claims process a couple of times now and it’s pretty straight forward

Usually takes at least 3 weeks for the claim to be processed and they refund the value of the item (what it sold for on EBay) and your postage

Hopefully what you sold wasn’t worth more than the £50 covered as standard by RM

Hopefully what you sold wasn’t worth more than the £50 covered as standard by RM

Yeah, well, it was. Lesson learned, I suppose 🙁

Track and Trace just says “We’ve got it”

Too big for the buyers post box by chance and they’ve “not received” the it’s at the sorting office card?

as above, only extra i can add is you must wait 15 working days after delivery was due (10 for Special), so i’d ask the buyer to raise an ebay dispute and tell them you will refund once that time has passed and after you’ve emailed them to confirm still no receipt..

stick to the rules, rather than refund the buyer immediately as many buyers will try it on (ie receive and not repay any refund)..

i had a buyer claim my parcel hadn’t arrived, I’d entered an incorrect tracking reference on ebay,
i spotted it, amended the tracking number and it was clear the bloke had signed for the trainers 2 days after posting them. the scumbag

Signed for items are only scanned when item is posted and when delivery is attempted so there is no trail to follow in between unlike Special and Tracked items that you can follow through the system.

What an idiot I am 🙁

The only crumb of relief I can give you, DrJ, is I did something similar a long time ago but somehow misspelled the address. Looked like it went around the system for a long time before the Post Office opened it and got my return address to sent it back to me.

We had a Xmas card delivered yesterday. It was from friends who live 1 mile away and was posted first class on the 13th December.

Your parcel might still be delivered yet.