eBay
An eBay buyer says it never arrived. What actually decides the case.
Item not received is the most common case a UK seller will meet, and most of what decides it was settled before the buyer ever opened it.
By Mason Hughes at ParcelProof, which records how a parcel was packed and opened so a seller can answer “it arrived empty”. This guide is written to be useful whether or not you ever use it.
Last checked 10 August 2026. Courier policies change; always confirm on the courier’s own site before you rely on a deadline.
The uncomfortable part of an item not received case is that by the time you read the message, most of the outcome is already fixed. Not by what you say next, but by what is attached to the order.
Everything below assumes the parcel genuinely went. The advice is the same either way, because you cannot prove your own honesty by asserting it.
Check these three things first
- Is the tracking number on the eBay order? Not in your inbox, not on the courier site. On the order. This is the single thing that matters most and it is the thing most sellers have not done.
- Does the tracking show delivery to the buyer’s address? A delivered scan with no address attached is much weaker than one that names the destination.
- Did you post to the address on the order? Posting to an address a buyer gave you in a message, rather than the one eBay recorded, forfeits most seller protection instantly.
What the case actually turns on
An item not received case is a factual question about delivery, not a question about you. Nobody is weighing your reputation against the buyer’s. The system is looking for a record from a third party, which in practice means the courier.
That is why a tracking number added late is worth so much less than one that was there from dispatch. One is a record. The other is a claim you made after the argument started, and it reads that way.
What to do, in order
- 1
Respond inside the case, quickly and factually
Give the tracking number, the courier and the delivery date. Nothing else. No theories about the buyer, no history of your feedback. A short factual reply is read; a long aggrieved one invites a decision against you.
- 2
Request the full delivery record from the courier
Ask in writing for the GPS coordinates, the delivery photograph and the signature or safe-place note. This is the evidence that turns “delivered” from a word into a location. Ask early, because scan data is not kept indefinitely.
- 3
Open your own courier claim if it is genuinely lost
Separate from the eBay case and on its own deadline. Royal Mail and Evri both ask the sender to claim, and both stop accepting claims after a window that does not pause while eBay decides.
When the story changes
A meaningful number of not-received cases become something else once tracking clearly shows delivery. The claim shifts from “nothing arrived” to “a parcel arrived but it was empty”, or to “it was not what I ordered”.
That is a completely different dispute, decided on completely different evidence, and the courier record that just saved you is now irrelevant. What matters at that point is what you can show about the packing. That process is here.
Making the next one easier
- Upload tracking to the order at dispatch, every time, including on cheap items. It costs nothing and it is the whole defence.
- Post only to the address on the order, whatever the buyer asks in messages.
- Choose a service with a delivery photograph on anything worth more than the upgrade costs.
- Record the packing on higher value orders. It does nothing for a not-received case, and it is the only thing that helps when the story changes to an empty box.
Common questions
Does tracking that says delivered protect me?
Usually, but only if that tracking is attached to the order on eBay and shows delivery to the buyer's address. Tracking you have in an email, or a number you added after the case opened, is a much weaker position than a number that was on the order from dispatch.
What if I posted without tracking?
Then you are relying on the buyer's honesty and eBay's discretion, and you should expect to lose. Proof of postage shows you sent something. It does not show where it went. Untracked postage is a decision to accept the risk on that order.
The buyer says it was stolen after delivery. Who pays?
If tracking shows it was delivered to the address, that is generally the strongest position a seller can be in, and theft after delivery is not usually treated as non-delivery. It is still worth asking the buyer to report it, because a courier investigation sometimes finds it was left somewhere it should not have been.
Should I refund to keep my metrics clean?
Sometimes, and it is a commercial decision rather than a moral one. A case that eBay decides against you counts differently from one you resolve yourself. On a low value order, resolving it quickly can cost less than the time and the risk. On a high value one, it is worth defending properly.
Source: eBay’s published seller protection and Money Back Guarantee help pages. Policy changes, so confirm on ebay.co.uk before relying on a specific rule or timescale.
Sources
Links checked 14 August 2026. If one has moved, tell us and we will fix it.