Lost eBay item that was sent to Canada w/out tracking. What would you do?

[Cornelius]

So I sold some printer ink for about $30 plus shipping to a buyer in Canada (I'm in the US). I shipped it first class, which is what the buyer paid for (I did have a priority option). It left one of the local sort facilities, but there is nothing that shows up from the customs form number after that. Auction ended on March 28th and I mailed it the 29th. The buyer contacted me on 5.21 and says he didn't get it. I asked at my PO and they don't have any additional info, I advised him to contact his delivery person and neighbors, and he says none of them know anything. He is asking for a refund since I told him I am unable to offer replacement since I'm not a store that regularly sells the same thing.

It is well past the Paypal claim period, but he can still leave negative feedback for another month or so. I have 100% positive feedback with 872 rated transactions. My inclination is to either ignore him at this point or just tell him 'no' as nicely as I can. Feels sort of like feedback extortion to me, since he really should have filed a claim a month ago during the paypal period, though he has never said anything about feedback.

What would you do?

[Jaruff]

After the PayPal claim period? Screw him imo. Take the hit as people can view your feedback profile and judge for themselves. He had more than enough time to contact you. He might be honest in his claim but if the $30+ was that important to him, he wouldn't have waited so long.

Just tell him that he waited too long to inform you of the problem and it is out of your hands. But, for now on, don't ship expensive stuff to Canada with First-Class. Use Priority. If he files a claim within the grace period, you would have been forced to issue a refund (either voluntarily or through eBay disputes) since you lacked proof of delivery.

[Az]

US sellers who ship internationally are between a rock and a hard place. To have proof of delivery you either have to send registered mail ($12 USD fee + whatever postage is) or send priority or express mail which is even higher. No customer is going to pay $35 shipping on a small item, so the only way you can realistically sell inexpensive stuff to non-US buyers is to send it regular air mail. Dishonest buyers can claim they never got anything and you have no way to prove them wrong.

Honest buyers still get fucked, because it can take longer for the item to arrive than the window you have to appeal it.

I guess in this situation the guy has waited too long to actually file a complaint with either eBay or Paypal. Is keeping the money worth the negative feedback? Seems like that's what you need to ponder.