Another p&p question

repeatoffender

Can you advise please.

When returning an item for a refund on ebay does the return have to be tracked (at considerable expense) or does it have to be signed for ie. postage plus 95p?

If said item is to be returned as it is damaged when it was described as excellent condition is the seller obliged to refund return postage costs or is it at their discretion?

theonlywayisup

If there is a dispute open and you fear the seller may be uncooperative, it is advisable to send it tracked. This can be with something like Collectplus or Hermes which are around the £4 mark. You can opt for recorded but it doesn't always update, so you may pay and end up with no proof of delivery.

If it's under £46 then your free certificate of posting will cover you in the event of a loss. As you can only claim once, does it matter if it's via a dispute or via Royal Mail?

If it's over £46 then use a courier or special delivery. Likewise, if it's an item which isn't covered by standard mail you should use a relevant service.

Whilst business sellers have obligations in law for returns post, Ebay and Paypal are unable to force a seller to refund.

I would always urge you to contact a seller first, to ascertain what they want you to do and what they will pay for.

repeatoffender

Thankyou i have contacted the seller, a private seller, and they have asked me to return it for a refund. I have priced return at the post office and the price of having it sent tracked means i would incur quite a loss for returning the item. I did not think of a courier only royal mail.

I have just looked at hermes and collect plus and these are much cheaper.

Crowqueen

RD seems to work reasonably well but is not always updated. If the value is small, it's probably OK. If the value is creeping up but the expense does not justify special delivery (over £46), then there's probably a case for a proper courier.

Delivery only has to be shown as attempted - would that be shown if, for example, the Collect+ item reaches the shop at its destination but the seller fails to pick it up?