So, it was bound to happen eventually - I have had a parcel go well and truly missing. Gone, without trace, bye bye, see you later etc. etc.

The parcel contained some 1 oz BYB and 1 oz Silver forum bars for 2018 - by the by, if you ever see serial numbers 103, 104 and 105 for 2018 1 oz bars on sale let me know - these are the missing bars! The same is also true for the 2018 1 oz BYB Bars numbered 46, 47, 48, 49 and 50.

It was a package to Canada and the last information we had on the tracking said it left the UK.

I wanted to share my experience about this lost parcel and tell you what I did and also share the good news that I got COMPENSATION from the Royal Mail!!!!

Firstly, before I share the story I wanted to say up front that the customer was refunded in full out of my own pocket. I did this BEFORE I knew that I would be getting compensation for the loss. I will explain more about that as I tell the story.

I sent the parcel via Royal Mail International Tracked and Signed to the customer in Canada. The total order value was £180 and I decided to send it with only the standard £50 cover that the Royal Mail offers. There are a few reasons for sending it with only £50 cover. The first is that I honestly thought that sending PM's via International T&S was likely never to be paid out if lost. I take this risk on board myself and I am happy to compensate out of my own pocket for the majority of my orders. There are some exceptions and I always ensure the customer understands this before they place an order and commit. The second reason for not choosing the £250 insurance limit is that it costs £2.50 more per parcel. With the volume of parcels I have sent in last year and not having had a single one go missing I felt that the amount I would have spent extra on all of these packages would actually have been more than if I had paid £2.50 more per parcel.

Regardless, I never actually thought that I would be able to make a successful claim as the Royal Mail would likely find some reason not to pay out - and I was also not 100% sure about sending Precious Metals with International Tracked and signed.

Low and behold though - I made a successful claim against this lost package! I had the receipt from the post office to show I posted it with the correct tracking number. I supplied an invoice that is generated by my website when a customer purchases an item. These two documents were enough to convince the Royal Mail that they should pay out.

So I have been re-imbursed the £11.15 on the postage as well as the maximum of compensation - £50. I am still down by about £80 over all but that is a lot better than down £130!

It is refreshing to know that the Royal Mail will pay out for International Tracked and Signed.

I will continue to use my best judgement on the insurance level for my parcels being sent internationally - this is a decision for me to make and in relation to how I look to do business. But I would highly recommend for people selling on the forum to have a good think about the compensation level that is needed for international parcels!

Have you had similar experiences?

Comment here!