Warning to self

A question about : Warning to self

Recently I sold a diet/cookery book on Ebay for the princely sum of Ј2.80 including postage. As it was small and inexpensive I popped it in my local postbox (ie no proof of postage). Shortly afterwards the buyer left me positive feedback.
Today I am informed, via EBay, the she has not received the book!! I immediately issued her with a refund..... OK lesson learned, always use recorded delivery from now on. In addition she had no feedback so there's another lesson learned.
However as it appears from comments here and elsewhere that EBay always takes the buyer's side, I am wondering if, had I used the recorded delivery option and of course had it been delivered, would EBay have found in my favour?

Best answers:

• Recorded Delivery does not always update as delivered so not really cost effective/viable. Special Delivery is more reliable but costs too much.
  Myhermes is about that price and will show online when delivered.
• Have you checked their address is right:
  https://www.royalmail.com/find-a-postcode
• There is a kind of contradiction or disparity here:
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• Surely the best solution, and the only way to make a living is to sell something for Ј7.99 plus postage?
  After ebay and paypal have had their cut and you've had to wrap and pack something and paid the post office and had ebay/paypal have a share of that cost too, what's actually left?
  I can't help thinking most ebay/amazon sellers would be better off burger flipping at Mcdonalds?
• Sometimes spending an extra 10 minutes waiting to get Proof of Postage just isn't worth it. For the sake of a couple of quid I just take the risk. Anything more than a fiver I'll usually get PoP, but otherwise I cba. No way would I get signed for for everything either, I barely make Ј1 on some of my items as it is.
• I generally count on a loss rate of around 1%, which means it's usually worth the risk of posting small, cheap items in the postbox unless I'm going to the PO anyway; and if I am, I get proof of posting but still wouldn't normally use signed for. It's not just unfeasibly expensive to use for cheap items, it's also likely to deter customers if it's something that would fit through the letterbox.
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