How to help a buyer who does not receive their shipment (and eBay is AWOL)

Question

1) My buyer paid right away. I shipped within 24 hours via USPS. eBay paid me. I stayed in fairly frequent contact with the buyer to make sure they received the item. 2) A week after the item should have arrived, it had not. Buyer initiated a trace. So did I. It would not give me information because "your contact info didn't patch the previous inquiry". Huh? 3) Two weeks later (about Dec 12) the USPS cancelled the inquiry. I tracked the package from the tracking page on eBay, and it clearly show...

mjweb7654 · Answer

I am only an occasional eBayer. ... As a result, I expected eBay to recommend a decent shipping option.

Had eBay given me a warning it would have gotten my attention ... something like:

"Please be advised that this manner of shipping is uninsured, AND eBay will not be able to help you when your package is lost."

After numerous run-ins where USPS failed to do job, I do not like to use them. But eBay makes it harder to ship via a other carriers.

I accept the fact I made a mistake. I paid for it in full having to refund my poor customer who didn't get their product. I do not absolve eBay for failing to guide me toward a better path.

Michael Webb

mjweb7654