An item I sold has not been delivered - what do I do?

hermum

This sounds really iffy to me, the buyer only wanting to pay half in case you ripped her off.
I'm starting to think that she knows that recorded is never signed for at work, so you'll be unable to prove delivery.
All the post into her office is probably logged, it's a shame that you are unable to check the log.
I know for you it's too late but if someone wanted to buy something from me but would only pay half up front & the other half after delivery I'd refuse & let them find another seller.

System

hermum wrote: »

This sounds really iffy to me, the buyer only wanting to pay half in case you ripped her off.
I'm starting to think that she knows that recorded is never signed for at work, so you'll be unable to prove delivery.
All the post into her office is probably logged, it's a shame that you are unable to check the log.
I know for you it's too late but if someone wanted to buy something from me but would only pay half up front & the other half after delivery I'd refuse & let them find another seller.

Yes, it's a real possibility that I've been had. But I'll chalk it up as an expensive mistake and make sure I only use Special Delivery for anything over £40 in future.

theonlywayisup

In_The_Red_2009 wrote: »

Yes, it's a real possibility that I've been had. But I'll chalk it up as an expensive mistake and make sure I only use Special Delivery for anything over £40 in future.

Can I suggest that you only post when you have been paid in full.

System

theonlywayisup wrote: »

Can I suggest that you only post when you have been paid in full.

I do usually, but as it wasn't via eBay this time I was happy to do half-and-half.
In this instance it wouldn't have made a difference anyway considering that I'm going to have to refund the buyer's money for non-delivery.

Crowqueen

Six of one and half a dozen of another.

You're responsible for the item getting safely to its destination; the buyer should probably have paid in full before the item was sent but - to be fair to them - there is the chance that Paypal wouldn't care how you were supposed to be paid; if the money was sent marked for goods, they can effect a refund through a case; they wouldn't really enter into discussion about the other half as a transaction is a transaction.

If the buyer gave up their protection by sending goods via personal payment, they don't have any claim, but it would be poor practice not to refund simply because they can't force you to.

You may or may not have been had but you need to make sure you send things out properly when they have been paid for; no amount of trying to convince yourself, or others trying to convince you, that they are a scammer will disallow their right to the money if it really hasn't turned up. This is one of the risks of selling at a distance and you make that judgement when you post something for sale on an online venue or agree a sale over the internet, not afterwards. If you don't want to give buyers protection like this, then sell face-to-face.

Sorry to sound harsh but ALWAYS post items out with appropriate insurance. However - the good thing is - essentially you have only lost £50 - and you may have some success in a claim,