Ebay postage query

[phantasmagoriana]

Sold a few things on Ebay the other day - got a message from one of the buyers today asking whether I paid postage on the item and enclosing a picture of a charge card they received. Now, obviously I did pay the postage (took it to the PO and had it weighed, as I never trust myself to do these things!). I assume the postage must have fallen off in transit, or something - the PO person attached it after taking the parcel from me, as usual.

So, clearly I'll need to refund postage here, but I'm not sure whether I should do so immediately, or ask for a copy of the receipt from the buyer confirming that they paid it (the charge card just says "amount due", so I'm not sure whether they actually paid and collected the item or not). I'm leaning towards just refunding the postage and chalking it up to experience - but should I ask the buyer for some proof, given that I don't know (1) whether they've collected it, or (b) whether it's even my parcel that was underpaid?

Any ideas welcome - just want to do the right thing!

[Jaded]

Did you have tracking on the parcel? You may have to take cudgels up with the post office.

[Pickled Onion]

RM are notorious for saying an item is underpaid, even when you have bought the postage from a post office where they have weighed and measured the item. You probably just have to chalk it up to experience - it's unlikely the buyer is trying it on, they normally just say it never arrived to get a full refund rather than a couple of quid postage.

Out of interest, how much was the original postage and did it go as large letter or parcel?

[robgul]

Yep - get the PO to weigh and apply postage - it's then "provable" as their responsibility and ALWAYS get a cash receipt and "proof of posting" (it's free) unless you send an item recorded/tracked.

Rob

[yoav]

As Rob says, if you took it to a post office, you'll have a receipt that you've paid for postage. Also, when you do that, they print off a label and stick it on the parcel so there will be a record of that too. The buyer shouldn't have to pay the charge. It is a pain to take it up with the post office on their behalf but I think that's what you've got to do. Unless it's a very small amount and it's easier just to refund them.

[phantasmagoriana]

Cheers all - I'm just going to refund the excess charge (though I have no proof the buyer has actually collected & paid it, it's not worth the hassle). I do have the POP from the Post Office, though it's such a low value transaction that I'm not sure I'll bother following it up. Think I'll just stick to giving stuff to the charity shop in future!

[Aunt Maud]

I think that's the best option.

Ebay will always side with the buyer in any dispute, unless the buyer has a past history of pulling similar stunts. Their policy is to retain buyers at all costs, as they consider buyers to be the source of their income despite charging the seller the fee.