Seller: Item Lost in Transit. What can I do?

[Taylorarobinson]

Hi there, I recently sold an iPhone internationally through USPS. I live in California and it has been stuck in Illinois since November 6, 2015. The buyer recently filed a claim. This is the first time this has happened to me. What can I do? I'm unsure if I purchased insurance or not, but I can check. Will I lose the money? Or will PayPal protect me? Thanks! I have the tracking number and the post office will remember that I sent it if I need proof.

[DPCreations]

Shipper/seller is responsble to get item to destination.   PayPal has no responsbility here since there is no proof of delivery.

If the itemdoes not arrive (is lost), seller is responsble tro make it right with buyer--refund ALL costs or re-ship.  Take care of the buyer first is seller's responsibility.

USPS Priority Mail includes insurance up to $50, so you could recover some of your loss with USPS.

If you didn't ship Priority then private insurance could have been purchased.

Since there is no record of arrival PayPal will assume no arrival and will force a refund if one is not given.  Credit cards would also force a chargeback for non-delivery.

Did you contact the USPS to search for the package?  That is something you can do, but probably too late since the buyer already filed a claim. 

[gtoguy3]

Sorry to hear that I am responsible for the Post Office losing 2 of my packages. It changes my whole concept of selling. Now I have to insure everything I sell, or use priority mail on everything I put up for auction. It's a good lesson to learn, and it's only going to cost me 80.00 out of my pocket when I'm out of work and depend on these sales for bills. Well, I'm not refunding any money until the Post Office can show me what they did with my items. They are still looking. Be careful handing an item to a mail carrier. Make sure it gets scanned right away so you can proove you gave it to them. One of my 'lost items' was eventually found and did get delivered, but 2 items are still missing.

[DPCreations]

While you are waiting buyer may file a dispute for non-delivery; seller make make a claim with credit card company.  Without confirmed delivery buyer would win.  If processed by credit card, you could also pay a chargeback fee.

Best to handle directly with buyer who will want and deserve an immediate settlement.