lost item compensation

cappi

I recently sold an item through FB Marketplace. Posted using tracking but it hasn't arrived. I understand that, if I give evidence of sale, Royal Mail will refund the postage and value of the item. I can then refund the buyer.
However, this means that I am out of pocket as I no longer have the item to sell. 
I do not have proof of the original purchase to show the price I originally bought the item for (years ago) 
How can I get Royal Mail to refund me the amount paid by the buyer (for me to refund to the buyer)  and compensate me for loss of the item? 

se2020

You don't get both.
You had the item but no money.
The buyer sent you £10
They lost the item.
The mail refund you £10 so you now have £20.
You send the buyer £10.

Basically royal mail have swapped your item for the money the buyer paid.
So, the buyer gets the money back but no item.
You get the money rather than the item (which is what you wanted in the first place)
Royal mail (or whoever) puts the item into a blind auction and maybe makes more out of it than you

DullGreyGuy

cappi said:

How can I get Royal Mail to refund me the amount paid by the buyer (for me to refund to the buyer)  and compensate me for loss of the item? 

The buyer has compensated you for the item... RM refunds them via you and so only RM has lost anything.

soolin

Incidentally your buyer doesn’t wait for you to get your refund before they get theirs, you sort out their refund and then make your claim at the appropriate time. Obviously if they have used an unsafe payment method they are at the mercy of your timings, but if they paid using something like PayPal then they can force a refund. 

I’m glad someone else explained how you can’t get compensated twice , any explanation I could have given would have been over complicated! 

Buster_Danog

There might be some confusion based on the wording in the Royal Mail's terms and conditions. I think they state "actual loss" and then what kind of proof is acceptable. I believe they used to mention ebay or online sales with regards to claims, but maybe they removed the reference. I certainly found it confusing when I looked up the t&cs a few weeks back.

se2020

Its a funny one because if you are buying items to sell on again then you are only supposed to claim for what you paid for the item.
Ie, you buy something for £20 and sell it on ebay for £30 you can only claim for the £20.

If you sell a personal item you can only claim for what you sold it for.
If you buy a dress for £100, wear it once, then sell it a week later on ebay for £50 you cam only claim £50.

That's what they call 'actual loss'

You cam provide an ebay item number or a copy of the Facebook advert and payment receipt as proof for the claim. 
I've no idea if they go as far as checking if you are operating as a business or not but I presume they have some sort of systems in place for checking that claims are accurate?

DullGreyGuy

se2020 said:

Its a funny one because if you are buying items to sell on again then you are only supposed to claim for what you paid for the item.
Ie, you buy something for £20 and sell it on ebay for £30 you can only claim for the £20.

If you are buying to sell then you are a business and courier's don't insurer your profit margin and with the £20 you can replace your stock and then send it to the buyer though in practice you'll often have sent the replacement before the £20 is refunded.

Buster_Danog

I didn't know that was the reason for the wording. However, it is possible to buy items for personal use and then find they are worth more than you paid for them. An example would be designer label clothing. I have bought things that were a terrible fit and sold them for more than I paid.

Also, I bought a watch for myself in the sale that I never wore and sold that on for more than I paid for it a few months later.

soolin

Buster_Danog said:

I didn't know that was the reason for the wording. However, it is possible to buy items for personal use and then find they are worth more than you paid for them. An example would be designer label clothing. I have bought things that were a terrible fit and sold them for more than I paid.

Also, I bought a watch for myself in the sale that I never wore and sold that on for more than I paid for it a few months later.

If you were a private seller selling these then you would claim for the higher price as evidenced by the ebay sale page. I prefer not to say exactly what I'm currently selling on my private account, but lets say something like vintage Lego - the original cost was probably a couple of pounds at the most- but it now sells for considerably more so I would claim for the sale price. If however I had bought that as part of my business and resold it at a profit then I would need to provide my invoice from the auction or wherever I bought it from.