Item appears to have gone missing

[sharot1999]

I sold an item and posted it Royal Mail 1st class signed for on 12 September.

the tracking details suggest that it has not been delivered, and neither has it been designated unable to deliver. In effect it has gone missing.

everything I have read on eBay appears to protect the buyer in as much as he will be refunded.

am I correct in thinking that my only recourse of action is to claim the value from the Royal Mail as compensation.

This lack of safeguard for the seller seems to be an invitation for non receipt claims.

kev

[*vyolla*]

I'm not quite sure why you think the buyer should lose out here.

Refund them and claim from Royal Mail if they've lost your item.

[sharot1999]

Thank you everybody who responded. I am in total agreement that the buyer should be reimbursed for an item he didn't receive. It just seems like the seller, even though he has done everything he/she can, has to jump through hoops to get any reimbursement.
Kev

[tressygirl]

Well it's Royal mail's fault when things go missing, so the buyer has also to request refunds, and wait for it to be processed and money refunded, just as the seller does. Jumping through hoops, well both seller and buyer may do a bit of jumping here for the refund that is due to both !