How do I get MY postage refunded for a lost item which I sold?

[evie.l_5]

I sold an Item. It was free postage on "anything but"-Simple Delivery, so that meant I paid the cost. Fine, been doing it a while and got my head around most of it.

The item has been lost by EVRI and tracking not updated since 13th May. I, proactively, contacted EVRI myself when I noticed tracking had stalled to find out what was going on. Many an email (from I'm pretty sure is just another BOT and just as useless the one on their chat) back and forth and no actual details, just a lot of it's on it's way.

So today comes, buyer has claimed with Ebay for item not received, Ebay see tracking is *bleep* up, refund the buyer what they paid, sent me an email to say "this happened, we sorted it for you, no harm no fowl, no need to do anything.".

Except there is!

I paid for postage, using "anything but"-Simple Delivery, yes, but out of my funds. So where is my refund for the postage for the failed delivery? The 'Help' pages are a joke and not a single word about such a scenario, meaning no one ever thought it could happen, meaning they've done what most people do when trying to explain something they know all about to someone who knows nothing yet it's assumed, albeit unconsciously, that they do know something.

So how do I claim my postage costs back? Ebay (ha!) or EVRI?

Oh, and I tried the little form for cancelling a postage label that's hidden under a billion copies of War and Peace so not even the Customer Service phone team know of it's existence. It doesn't apply to items lost in the post.

[xyz307xyz]

Is this correct?

You have received £100 and been charged £2.94 for the label.

If the parcel was delivered OK, overall you would have £97.06.

Actually the parcel wasn't delivered, so the buyer got their £100 back from ebay. You still have £97.06 - so I don't see the issue - you've not lost out.

[evie.l_5]

Section 12: “Liability for Loss or Damage”

This part is seller-protective and clear:

"Once your item has been scanned into the carrier’s network… your item will be covered for loss or damage during transit up to the sold item value… This means you will retain your sales proceeds..."

Interpretation:

• Once EVRI scans the parcel, eBay accepts liability for loss/damage.

• If the item is lost, you keep your sale proceeds (i.e., you are financially protected).

• This is key: it’s a guarantee that you won’t lose money from a lost-in-transit claim, provided you complied with the rules.

So far, eBay upheld that — the buyer was refunded from eBay’s pocket, not yours.

BUT... this doesn't mention the shipping label cost, only the item sale value.

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Section 19: “Limitation of Liability”

This is eBay’s legal shield, intended to limit how much they can be sued or held accountable for.

They’re saying they won’t cover:

• Indirect losses like missed profits, lost time, inconvenience, goodwill, etc.

• Business interruption, service outages, reliance on the platform, etc.

They cap their liability at:

• The compensation due under the terms (i.e., the item sale price if lost),

• Or £100, whichever is greater.

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So What Does That Mean for Your Case?

✅ You are entitled to the item value

✔️ eBay covered this by refunding the buyer and letting you keep your payout — this aligns with Section 12.

❓ But what about the shipping label?

That’s the gray area. eBay’s terms do not explicitly say the label cost will be refunded. However:

• You paid for a service (Evri delivery).

• The service was not fulfilled (parcel lost, no delivery).

• Under UK consumer law, you are entitled to a refund for a service not rendered, even if the eBay T&Cs don’t directly spell that out.

eBay’s limitation of liability clause does not override your consumer rights — it’s more about protecting them from lawsuits or big claims for consequential loss.

So while they limit their legal obligations, they still owe you the cost of the failed service.

[sml192]

The Simple Delivery Terms & Conditions doesn't specifically mention the cost of the label but that cost will be included in the buyer's refund as per their consumer rights.

You may have been charged for the label but it was ultimately paid for by the buyer so it is the buyer that ultimately needs to be compensated for the cost of the label.  By compensating the buyer directly eBay is saving you the trouble of having to compensate the buyer yourself and then claim from the carrier/broker. 

You cannot expect eBay to provide compensation to both parties, in the same way that you wouldn't expect the carrier/broker to if you had bought direct from them. 

[dch2112011]

ebay's terms and conditions are quite succinct and written in plain English, whilst your personal interpretation may suit your argument it is simply made of straw, of course you can test this in a court of law should you want a definitive legal interpretation.

[xyz307xyz]

Is my comment at 22-05-2025 12:26 AM, correct? i.e. you've not lost out.

If so, whilst it may well be not spelt out/a grey area; it would be my guess, you won't get anywhere discussing this with ebay. I'm not a lawyer and it seems you know more about consumer law than I do, so certainly pursue it legally if you wish.

I do wonder though about this "You paid for a service (Evri delivery)."

Maybe ebay would argue, you paid them for simple delivery and they paid evri. Ebay followed it's own t&cs and provided you with the same funds as if delivery was successful. The Evri delivery wasn't successful so any refund/claim etc. is between evri and ebay.

If the 12:26 AM comment is not correct, please let us know and ignore the above.

[evie.l_5]

Just to clarify — I do know how this works. I work in card payment disputes, which means I literally handle getting customers’ money back for services not provided, counterfeit goods, and scammy nonsense every day. I’m not confused about ‘free P&P’ — I’m pointing out that I paid separately for a courier service via eBay’s Simple Delivery, and that service wasn’t fulfilled.

eBay’s own T&Cs say that if the item was scanned into the network and then lost, I should retain my proceeds — and I did. But I also paid for a shipping label and got nothing for it. That’s a service not provided. It has nothing to do with listing prices, buyer refunds, or how you choose to price your shipping.

If you bought something, didn’t get it, and the seller kept your money and your postage fee, you’d raise hell — and I’d probably be the one processing your chargeback. Same logic applies here. This isn’t some loophole; it’s just basic contract and consumer protection law which any company’s T&Cs are superseded by.

[evie.l_5]

The legislation still stands. A service was paid for and not provided as described. I made the purchase and eBay provided the means to do so. Essentially, I make my claim to eBay as the point of purchase was through them.

Imagine you sold a car and the buyer lived quite some distance away. They say they can’t pick it up until next week but you’re going on holiday next week so, seeing as you’re a very lovely person and you got a really good price for the car, you offer to deliver it to them. You know a friend of a friend’s aunt’s grandad who has a flatbed trailer and says they’ll deliver it for you for £60. You go on your holiday and have a lovely time. You come home to find a million messages and emails from the buyer asking where their car is. You ‘delivery’ guy has done a bunk with your £60 and the car is still where you left it.
The buyer is so *bleep* that they demand their money back. You agree and that’s the end of that.
But what about the £60 you paid for delivery?
You lost out on all the money from the sale but you still have the car and could sell it again, so you’ve not lost out. Except you have. You are down £60.
You offered free P&P because you made good money on the sale. The buyer didn’t pay for delivery as part of the price they agreed to pay.
It’s the same principle with free P&P on eBay. The buyer isn’t paying for postage, they are just paying the price agreed for the item. Whether a seller bumps up the asking price to cover their P&P costs is their prerogative and entirely irrelevant.
That I paid for the P&P with funds available in my eBay account is irrelevant. It’s no different to me paying with my bank card. Where that money came from makes no difference. The purchase of P&P is a separate transaction for the seller EVERY SINGLE TIME.

[dch2112011]

You are totally off the beaten track - Free Delivery  is just that  you have been allowed to keep the total £100  order value and the customer has been refunded the total order value.

You are not entitled to get an additional refund for delivery costs that you incurred - the delivery cost has been refunded by you to the customer - you gave ebay permission to do this on your behalf - working in card services hardly qualifies you to be an expert in contract law 

You will never deal with this situation working for a card provider - simply because card providers deal with buyer disputes where the payment source is the card provider - even you can see that your customer service knowledge has no bearing on this situation.

If you even had the slightest knowledge of contract law you would realise that by agreeing to ebay's terms and conditions your legal rights no longer apply where the contractual rights are concerned unless a court of law deemed the interpretation of the contract was unfair.

You can take some comfort in that you are not alone in blinkered thinking - many try to manipulate the system quoting 'I am an expert' I must be right - rarely do they succeed 

[evie.l_5]

Actually this IS the exact kind of transaction I deal with. And as for contract law… no T&Cs have any bearing on your statutory rights, even those of the mighty eBay.
The crux of this issue is you fail to see that the purchase of the shipping label is an entirely separate transaction to the purchase of the listed item I sold. That would be the case if P&P was charged separately and itemised as an additional charge to the buyer on top of the item’s purchase price, and that is the same for not and advertising free P&P. P&P is still physically purchased by me, the contract for this is between myself and eBay (who facilitate the ability to buy services from Royal Mail and EVRI in this instance).
I am not disputing with anyone that the buyer has been refunded in full for the item (they didn’t pay for P&P as it was listed as ‘seller pays postage’), nor that eBay have not taken the money for that from me (they have insurance with the courier to compensate for the value of the sale: VALUE OF THE SALE, not minus what I then spent for P&P).
What if instead of free P&P I offered free gift wrapping? I tie a pretty good bow 🎀 I buy some gift wrap and ribbon from amazon for next day delivery. Amazon fail to deliver my items and I need to post my eBay item! 😱 I’m going to have to message the person who bought my item and beg their forgiveness. But what about my gift wrap and ribbon? I never got what I paid for, but I offered it as free to my customer so I should just forget about it and take the loss. Right?

That is what you are saying. You are tangling up two separate contracts. In the purchasing of P&P from EVRI, via eBay, I AM THE CUSTOMER! I bought a service. The service was not provided. Just like the Amazon analogy, I didn’t get what I paid for so I am due a refund of that transaction.

Just because you don’t know your own rights as a consumer and have been getting it wrong all this time doesn’t mean that those who do know their rights and act accordingly are playing the system. We’re not playing, we’re following the process in place.

We get so many customers saying they never knew they could get their money back when something’s gone wrong or broken or wasn’t done right. Now you know a little bit more about your rights, I hope you can use this knowledge in the future should you find yourself in the situation where you didn’t get what you paid for.

[dch2112011]

You are so off the mark, I suggest you take legal advice before you start to believe yourself.

You even convince yourself that credit card companies deal with contractual  disputes between non card holders  or processors  - utter nonsense -  they represent the card user. 

They offer internal discretional buyer protection mostly with binding  terms and conditions agreed with the payment providers mastercard and visa  rather than any legislative reason - except for mandatory section 75 claims in the UK

Strange you would believe this is acceptable but you agreeing to ebay 's terms and conditions isn't  

T erms and conditions form the basis of  a legal contract, legal agreement between interested parties - this agreement states what each party must do and can expect - in essence terms and conditions are rules you have to agree to before you can use certain products or services. 

If you for one moment think they are non binding  - you are in for a huge shock 

Your nonsense about cars and holidays is again missing the point - the customer pays for the car with free delivery - you have to refund the full amount paid.

But you only have the net amount because you have paid the £60 to the carrier - so at this point you are minus £120 - the £60 paid to the carrier plus the extra £60 added from your own funds to refund the buyer 

If You recover the £60 from the carrier - you will break even !  With ebay you would be £940 up and yet you still cannot see the wood from the trees !

[sml192]

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@evie.l_5 wrote:
Just to clarify — I do know how this works. I work in card payment disputes, which means I literally handle getting customers’ money back for services not provided, counterfeit goods, and scammy nonsense every day. I’m not confused about ‘free P&P’ — I’m pointing out that I paid separately for a courier service via eBay’s Simple Delivery, and that service wasn’t fulfilled.

eBay’s own T&Cs say that if the item was scanned into the network and then lost, I should retain my proceeds — and I did. But I also paid for a shipping label and got nothing for it. That’s a service not provided. It has nothing to do with listing prices, buyer refunds, or how you choose to price your shipping.

---

I understand the principle behind what you are saying but the complication here and the point that you seem to be missing is that you didn't pay for the label separately, the cost for the label was taken from the proceeds of the sale, i.e. the amount paid by the buyer.  The fact that you advertised the item with 'Free postage' is, therefore, largely irrelevant in this instance.

Ebay has reimbursed the buyer for the full amount that they paid which, therefore, includes the cost of the label.  If eBay was to do as you suggest, by also reimbursing you for the cost of the label, then that would leave you better off as a result of the item being lost, since you wouldn't need to reimburse the buyer, and would mean that eBay would have refunded the cost of the label twice neither of which can possibly be right. 

[evie.l_5]

“You even convince yourself that credit card companies deal with contractual disputes between non card holders or processors - utter nonsense - they represent the card user.”

At no point did I say I deal with non-card holders. I said I deal with the same sorts of transactions, meaning the purchase of goods and services, the ones I deal with specifically are made using credit and debit cards.

VISA and Mastercard regulations are regulated by the FSA and upheld by the financial ombudsman should a customer need use of there additional help in cases.

You totally misread the car analogy btw.

Delivery was never charged to the person buying the car it was offered as a gesture of convenience for both parties. So the £60 would be from my pocket. If I sold the car for £10k then I would give back £10k to refund it. In an entirely separate transaction I’ve paid, from my Swiss bank account (because that’s where I hide all my money; my Barclays account is just for my Ocado delivery on Tuesday mornings), £60 to the guy who didn’t deliver the car as per our agreement. So, I’m out of pocket £60 but I am entitled to get that back under my Statutory Rights because he didn’t do the job.

Terms and conditions are a binding contract, you are right 🌟
If, however, any part of those T&Cs are less than or contrary to your Statutory Rights then those clauses invalid.

“With ebay you would be £940 up and yet you still cannot see the wood from the trees!”

Again you’re misreading and tangling up 2 separate issues. EBay have buyer and seller protection policies for instances of dispute which they handle in-house. The core purpose of this is to return the party/parties without fault back to the state they were financially in had the reason for the dispute not happened. So, if an item is lost in transit, eBay refund the buyer, claim that money from the courier (eBay = customer : courier = seller in this transaction), and the seller of the item in the first place get to keep the value of the sale so they aren’t out of pocket because it’s not like they can resell a missing item. If you take away eBay’s protection policies then the buyer would contact their bank’s Disputes Department and start the chargeback process. The seller would contact the courier directly to get their refund of the postage costs and the compensation for the value of the item lost.

EBay’s seller and buyer protection policies are an in-house chargeback system following closely to regulation, consumer law and statutory rights, and plain old good customer service.

With all disputes the consumer must approach the merchant they paid first to resolve the issue. If they cannot resolve it then the chargeback system comes into effect. EBay are essentially playing dual roles, merchant and disputes department, because they think it’s best practice for their business.

When it works it works great. Unfortunately, the introduction of Simple Delivery has meant that some of the pre-existing processes and options have not been integrated.

1. Refunding postage to the seller if they’ve offered free P&P on a listing that’s gone a-rye.

2. Sellers can’t combine postage if using SD.

3. Seller’s can’t cancel unused postage labels. You have to just let it sit there for 30days to expire and hopefully that’ll initiate a refund (no one’s quite sure because it’s not been around long enough).

4. A lot of the directions in the ‘help’ section are outdated and refer to options that just don’t exist anymore.

These are just 4 things I’ve had come up. Browse the forum, you’ll see a bunch more.

I’ve spoken to a lovely French customer service agent from eBay today about my lost order. She said they have been working through a number of different changes including the ones I’ve had. Though this postage one, she said, was new to her.

Anyway, it’s all in hand, eBay are aware of the glitch now and will be working on a fix or temporary work around (much like the leaving unused labels to expire because they can’t add the button back yet:it’ll need new code written or something I guess).

If you don’t already, take a look at the Martin Lewis Money Saving Expert site. They have all the info on consumer rights, chargebacks, what to do and how if you have an issue with something you have bought. They explain things very well and for all sorts of scenarios. It’s a really good, accurate and factual site.

[xyz307xyz]

Thanks for the response.
I don't understand the car story - "You lost out on all the money from the sale but you still have the car and could sell it again". With the ebay item, you have all the money but you don't have the item - so you don't need to and can't sell it again.
I think I understand your first point. You paid £2.94 (to ebay for Simple Delivery I think, rather than to Evri) but you didn't get the service of the the item being delivered.
I genuinely hope you get that resolved or at least an explanation that you are comfortable with i.e. is legally valid; and that ebay update their help pages accordingly.
I am just some random person on a discussion board and not involved in contracts etc. at all.

[evie.l_5]

The complications arise in this situation because I am both the seller (I sold an item on eBay) and the buyer (I paid for a delivery service that didn’t happen). Seems like a lot of people can’t process that distinction.

It’s getting sorted out now so.

It’s not even that I’m being petty over a small amount of money, the issue was that a process that was once there has vanished science Simple Delivery was implemented and that is an oversight by eBay’s team. They’re on it now though. So many glitches with Simple Delivery, they really didn’t do their due diligence and a proper beta test.

[evie.l_5]

“I understand the principle behind what you are saying but the complication here and the point that you seem to be missing is that you didn't pay for the label separately, the cost for the label was taken from the proceeds of the sale, i.e. the amount paid by the buyer. The fact that you advertised the item with 'Free postage' is, therefore, largely irrelevant in this instance.

Ebay has reimbursed the buyer for the full amount that they paid which, therefore, includes the cost of the label. If eBay was to do as you suggest, by also reimbursing you for the cost of the label, then that would leave you better off as a result of the item being lost, since you wouldn't need to reimburse the buyer, and would mean that eBay would have refunded the cost of the label twice neither of which can possibly be right.”


That’s not accurate. Just because in this instance the money I used to pay for the label was from my eBay account doesn’t equate to the buyer having paid for the postage within the price of the item. If I’d paid for the label on my card does that mean the buyer didn’t pay for postage?

Let me put that into figures (we’ll ignore payment protection for this):

Item price - £100
Postage offered - free P&P (seller pays)

Scenario 1
Purchase made - £100 paid
My eBay account balance - £42.82 + £100(new sale)= £142.82
Shipping label - £2.94 paid with eBay account funds
My eBay account balance - £139.88
Item lost eBay refund buyer - £100
EBay find me not at fault keep sale funds (£100).
My balance - £139.88 no refund of the P&P I paid for even though I didn’t receive the service.

Scenario 2

Purchase made - £100 paid
My eBay account balance - £42.82 + £100(new sale)= £142.82
Shipping label - £2.94 paid with bank card
Bank balance - £100-£2.94= £98.06
My eBay account balance - £142.82
Item lost eBay refund buyer - £100
EBay find me not at fault keep sale funds (£100).
My balance - £142.82
I contact the Disputes team at my bank because courier lost my item and haven’t responded to my claim to refund cost of postage.
Bank actions a chargeback for Non receipt of services. Reverse the transaction back into my card account - £2.94
Bank balance - £98.06+£2.94= £100.
And both parties are in the financial position they were in before, buyer has money back instead of item, seller has money because item got lost.

Just because I would have been down £2.94 for postage if nothing had gone wrong doesn’t mean that it’s the same if it’s not been delivered. If you pay for something that hasn’t happened you get a refund.



On 22 May 2025, at 17:13, eBay Community wrote:

I understand the principle behind what you are saying but the complication here and the point that you seem to be missing is that you didn't pay for the label separately, the cost for the label was taken from the proceeds of the sale, i.e. the amount paid by the buyer. The fact that you advertised the item with 'Free postage' is, therefore, largely irrelevant in this instance.



Ebay has reimbursed the buyer for the full amount that they paid which, therefore, includes the cost of the label. If eBay was to do as you suggest, by also reimbursing you for the cost of the label, then that would leave you better off as a result of the item being lost, since you wouldn't need to reimburse the buyer, and would mean that eBay would have refunded the cost of the label twice neither of which can possibly be right.

[dch2112011]

in all probability ebay can not claim loses against the carrier - the terms agreed will most likely be business terms where the carrier reduces the delivery cost to ebay - the trade off will be no refund for lost or damaged parcels in transit or postal costs - this is the norm .

ebay therefore will calculate the losses from their historical records and increase the postal prices to cover future losses.  This is absolutely normal for businesses as is averaging but that is another discussion.

Your arguments may seem plausible to you but the terms and conditions are binding - it is a legal agreement you entered into until a judge decides otherwise.

There is no legislation regarding card companies reversing payments except for section 75 claims or giving courtesy refunds - visa and mastercard impose these customer protections on the merchants and card issuers to enable them to use their services 

You should be fully aware of these statements given your employment status !

Chargeback is not a legal right (unlike Section 75). You should address a chargeback claim to your debit or credit card provider, which in turn will put in a request to the retailer's bank. The process for managing these claims is determined by a set of rules from American Express, MasterCard or Visa.

When you initiate a chargeback, your bank takes on the role of a financial referee. They may withdraw funds from the retailer's account and credit them back to you.

However, it's not a one-way street. Retailers can – and sometimes do – dispute chargebacks if they believe the claim is without merit.

Chargeback is a voluntary scheme. It is not the same as claiming money back under Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act.

Section 75 is a legal requirement on credit card providers (but not debit cards) – for purchases over £100 and under £30,000 – and means they have equal liability with the retailer to make sure you are treated fairly.

Of course if a chargeback goes against your customer  they can take it up with your bank and then the ombudsman but this does not guarantee a refund - there is no legislation relating to chargebacks - yet you seem to think there is against ebay's voluntary protection - your logic has no merit.

As for ebay and your claim - good luck with that - they are not generally that gullible but you never know they may just believe you to get you off the phone.

In the same way that card companies do when issuing courtesy refunds or initiating chargebacks for customers - often done via customer services  as the easy option to keep the card holder happy rather than a decision on the merits of the claim - it is an internal  framework which is interpreted and implemented differently by each card provider.

[edwardian-dreams]

while I appreciate all the explanations here and frankly have gone over my head  just wanted to ask 

evri got 2.94 for a service they didn’t fulfill

so who did evri pay the money back to 

if it wasn’t the seller who paid for it who was it 

[edwardian-dreams]

Forgot to say glad you got it sorted Evie 

and eBay should seriously reconsider changing their forum operstions

you can’t edit after a certain time plus you are never told if anyone replies to you

Pretty poor format 

[dch2112011]

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@edwardian-dreams wrote:

while I appreciate all the explanations here and frankly have gone over my head  just wanted to ask 

evri got 2.94 for a service they didn’t fulfill

so who did evri pay the money back to 

if it wasn’t the seller who paid for it who was it 

It would depend on ebay's business agreement with Evri -  it is quite possible that no one was refunded direct by Evri  - most business agreements with carriers of any size get a lower delivery price or even an averaged price in exchange for no compensation for lost or damaged packages - this is the trade off - low prices for no insurance. 

Having said this only ebay could answer how their contract is structured.

With regards to the seller and buyer in this situation -  ebay have refunded the buyer on behalf of the seller the total paid to the seller plus additional ebay fees

under enhanced protection - the seller has been refunded the total sale price (the same as the buyer without ebay fees)

Refunding on behalf of the seller is nothing new - How it should show to stop sellers trying to gain money they are not entitled to on the sellers ebay account is. 

Money in from sale £100 

Money out for postage £2.94

Money refunded to buyer from seller £100

Courtesy refund to seller from ebay   £100  (total sale proceeds)

Credit Balance £97.06

(100 - 2.94 - 100 + 100 = 97.06 )

[edwardian-dreams]

It would depend on ebay's business agreement with Evri -  it is quite possible that no one was refunded direct by Evri  -

well they blimmin well should be 

evri pocketed the 2.94 here? Or eBay? 
The seller didn’t get the money they paid for a service that was defunct 

I used to use parcel2go (when I had loads of sales on eBay which was a looong time ago) and when evri lost a parcel I got refunded TWICE for some reason 

in this case seller is not getting refunded at all