Are you obligated to give a refund after an item is lost in the mail

[4815162342]

Originally Posted by Edwolf1963

+2 .. Hey Josh, legally it comes down to this and what others have mentioned along the same lines. We can debate all day about ethics, history, proof, etc. but this is the bottom line. Legally, a contract between two parties requires both sides receive what was agreed upon. If seller is paid and buyer doesn't get what was paid for, there is breach - regardless of whatever 3rd party (in this case, USPS) didn't fulfill - - the responsibility falls to the seller until buyer receives what was contracted for.



I remember not that long ago the occasional notations from eBay sellers about not responsible for items lost/damaged, not responsible if buyer doesn't take insurance, etc. They put a stop to that some time ago. I think David noted in those cases, you can't prove delivery - you lose.



One other note - buying $200 worth of insurance (as an example) on a card you sold for that amount won't likely get you that back from USPS (or UPS for that matter) if they lose/damage. There's some limited liability on paper products, perishable as well as proof of value you must provide beyond what someone paid for it. I found that out the hard way on a watch sold to someone in Canada for $200, insured for that amount - USPS/Canada post loses it and in the end I got a check back for $45. Insult to injury - eBay still charged me the FVF @10% of the $200

A few years ago I sold an autographed photo on eBay and shipped it with insurance. It arrived damaged, so after the buyer sent me a picture of said damage, I submitted a claim online to USPS. It took a while, but they paid the full amount (eBay winning bid) of the claim to the buyer. He was very happy and gave me positive feedback.