Royal Mail + eBay Compensation Dispute

1880tech — Fri, 20 Feb 2026 15:22:34 GMT

2 months ago I sold and sent a parcel, purchasing the label through eBay (Royal Mail Special Delivery 1PM) and they deducted the cost off the payout.

This was over the busy Christmas period and unfortunately the parcel was lost. I filed a claim through Royal Mail and waited 1-2 months for their response. To which they replied (in short) : ''On this occasion I am not able to accept your claim for compensation, as the service used was a prepaid contract service and all claims must be made by the contract holder. I do recommend you contact them to discuss this issue further.''

So I get straight onto eBay and give them all the information as in my eyes it makes sense -> paid for the label through eBay -> contract would then be between eBay and Royal Mail

eBay have replied to my emails multiple times saying they cannot help me and that I should now go to local law enforcement/court?

Is this truly what I need to do now or is there anything else I can do before this? Has Royal Mail or eBay made a mistake?

Parcel was £560, second hand mobile phone and I refunded the buyer straight away as didn't want to keep him waiting for his money back.

Re: Royal Mail + eBay Compensation Dispute

jckl1957 — Fri, 20 Feb 2026 19:27:05 GMT

If you bought the label through Ebay, you dealt with Packlink and you needed to claim from them.

However, they have a deadline of 7 days from the expected delivery date to start a claim.

You can contact Packlink, but the advice you have been given, to seek legal advice, might be the right advice here.

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Royal Mail + eBay Compensation Dispute

Re: Royal Mail + eBay Compensation Dispute