Royal Mail proof of postage and item cost rule

pip10

Hi

A buyer has claimed that some items I sent haven't arrived. They were sold on eBay and sent via Royal Mail. I'm about to attempt to claim for the value of the items. I have proof of postage.

My query is regarding what I'm reading to do with - you can only claim for what the item cost you to purchase. Royal Mail say,
'Proof of value for the actual loss is what the item cost you to acquire, purchase or manufacture (or repair in the case of damage)'

I've read another thread on here where someone bought an item for 5 quid in a charity shop and sold it on eBay for 35. The item went missing and Royal Mail would not refund the sale price even though he'd paid for adequate insurance. However, he was a business customer.

On another thread I read, someone else said that the rules for personal customers are different. That with PayPal/eBay proof of the sale amount, Royal Mail will regard this as being the value of the item. But this thread was from a good number of years ago.

So what i'm wondering is, is the above correct still that personal eBay sellers can claim the sale amount as the value of the item?

Many thanks

Pun

I've successfully claimed on the basis that I sold an item I was given and enclosing a print out of a website selling the item at just a bit more than the price I got as a private seller on ebay.

If you are selling an item where it isn't possible to get a price comparison (e.g. it is no longer made/sold), send RM a copy of the order page showing what the buyer paid/confirming you are a private seller, explaining that you were selling an item you had owned for years/unwanted gift or whatever, so no receipt or other proof is available.

ballisticbrian

They will pay you the least of the two, what it sold for or what it cost to buy in the first place. So typically, a business buys items in at a lower price and sells them at a higher price, whereas a private seller will buy a typical eBay item in, get their value out of it, and sell it on as a used item. Antiques or an item that becomes collectable would be an exception to this.

sham63

For the last couple of claims I made for lost EBay items, they have accepted the PayPal payment/refund screenshots as proof of the value of the item.

pip10

Thanks everyone for the replies.

I would say two of the items have become collectable but not by a lot money wise. Two of them would have cost about 3£ in the 90s and sold for around 7£ and 9£ recently so not sure if you would class these as becoming collectable ballisticBrian? I no longer have receipts and can't remember where they were bought but have been my own personal items since bought.

ballisticbrian wrote: »

They will pay you the least of the two, what it sold for or what it cost to buy in the first place. So typically, a business buys items in at a lower price and sells them at a higher price, whereas a private seller will buy a typical eBay item in, get their value out of it, and sell it on as a used item. Antiques or an item that becomes collectable would be an exception to this.

ballisticbrian

To be honest, there's not a lot of money involved and you can't drill down to what the item cost in the 90's without taking inflation into account which would be ridiculous, so I would just appeal to Royal Mail to pay the eBay selling price by making clear you are a private seller, not a business.

Africat

As a personal seller I've always claimed for the amount they sold for,; I've only had one claim rejected which wasn't connected to this but was because a Liquid item wasn't despatched in an upright box - you live and learn!