Sold item on eBay - Buyer says he's not received it - what do I do now?

dex91

Hi guys,

Ok, so I sold an item on ebay and posted it (first class) on Monday. I received an email today from the buyer saying it had not been received.

I've searched and searched through ebay's seller policy and can't find anything. I've got the certificate of posting, but what if he's just trying to scam me and he actually received it, how would I know this?

What is my next move here? Do I give a refund and if so, who refunds me? Royal Mail or eBay? Any help here would be appreciated - I have good feedback on ebay and dont want this to taint it.

Thanks,

Dex

RFW

dex91 wrote: »

What is my next move here? Do I give a refund and if so, who refunds me? Royal Mail or eBay?
Dex

Certainly not Ebay.

First, was the item small or large, ie would it fit through a letterbox or could it have ended up in a sorting office?
There are ways to claim back for non delivery via Royal Mail, but you may not get the full amount of the item back or anything, depending what it was.

It is always the seller's responsibility to ensure item arrives at buyer's destination, for larger value items, a signed for method of delivery should be used.

dex91

RFW wrote: »

Certainly not Ebay.

First, was the item small or large, ie would it fit through a letterbox or could it have ended up in a sorting office?
There are ways to claim back for non delivery via Royal Mail, but you may not get the full amount of the item back or anything, depending what it was.

It is always the seller's responsibility to ensure item arrives at buyer's destination, for larger value items, a signed for method of delivery should be used.

It was a DVD boxset that cost just over £2 to post. I've already asked the buyer if he's contacted the sorting office, and if he has and they dont have it, i asked him to email me back and id refund him the money. This is the first time this has happened, i just hope im not being scammed.

Kite2010

Tell the buyer to wait another week, it's only been 4 working days.

A genuine buyer would wait whereas a "oh look the seller hasn't sent it tracked i'm going to say it's never come" style scammer probably would go to paypal to raise a dispute

apples1

When this happened to me recently I was worried that I was being scammed. I also had proof of posting. In my bid to investigate I read the buyers feedback (every comment) as well as the feedback they had left for others (every comment again!). In doing so I found (as a positive comment) that they had not received another of their purchases. I then looked at their address again and googled it. Found that compared to other addresses in the road it seemed to have a line missing. Had flat number but no building number. I pasted the buyers address (as provided by e bay & pay pal) on message to them and asked if a bit was missing. They said yes. I politely suggested that I hoped they were able to correct the address they had provided asap so as not to lose out on any further purchases and that they really ought to contact the person they had left negative feedback for as clearly the incorrect address was not that sellers fault. They refused!

Oliver14

Most buyers are honest despite the paranoia of some sellers. Ask the buyer to wait a few more days. Give them a date you will refund if it doesn't arrive. If it doesn't arrive refund the buyer then after 15 days put a claim into royal mail with your proof of posting,

shaun_from_Africa

I think (but I may be wrong) there may be problems claiming from RM if the package doesn't turn up.

If they check the address it was sent to and find that part of it was missing they may refuse to pay out.