Super Bummed-Out, Coin Never Arrived

First, contact the seller. I've had items from Japan marked "received" only to discover that because of language barrier and a handwritten address, my package was sent to the wrong address (East Ave instead of Eastern Ave) and sent back. Make sure the seller isn't staring in befuddlement at a returned envelope going "whu--what?" DO NOT MAKE ANY ACCUSATIONS OR DEMANDS--if the seller did everything right, and it sounds like they did, they'll probably be just as upset as you are. Just ask if the coin was returned, and explain briefly that sometime between the delivery confirmation and the mailbox, it disappeared.

If you live in an apartment building, knock on a couple of neighbors' doors--the ones whose boxes surround yours. Introduce yourself politely including your apartment number, and ask if they've gotten any mixed-up mail because you have a package expected that hasn't arrived. I grew up on a street with two women named Sally and mailtime was a near-daily comedy (substitute mailmen who couldn't figure out where #103 was would also stick the mail in our box or the Storch family's box by mistake on a routine basis). Be nice--if this is what happened, it's not their fault.


If there are any similarly-named streets in your town (French Road/Old French Road, Scots Road/Scotland Road, Davis Drive/Davis Street, Shelhamer Circle/Road/Drive/Street are all examples from the teeny-tiny little town I grew up in), go see if there's a house number that matches yours and if so, make the same request: "This is going to sound strange, but we have very similar addresses and I'm expecting an important package that never arrived. I'm wondering if you happened to get mail with a name you didn't know in the last couple of weeks?"


I hope you find your coin! If you're on friendly terms with your mailman, ask if they can check the truck and make sure nothing slipped out in there. The stuff I've found under my driver's seat months after the fact, you don't want to believe.

Did the seller get insurance as part of the package? If the package is deemed missing by the post office then the seller can claim the insurance. The seller can refund your money and get his/her in return. The rules and insurance, if any, varies by country though.

Since it was only delivered I guess it didn't require a signature confirmation. Perhaps you can require the seller to select that option in the future. In the town where I live there is a Street and a Court by the same name.

So...I often have to travel to the neighbors house to check if they received a package meant for my address instead. For important items, I ask the seller to put signature confirmation so that nothing gets left on the doorstep of my neighbors house.

Not much help for you now but maybe you'll consider some of these options for future purchases.

I assume it was under $200? If you have no prior claims with PayPal, they might refund your money even though DC shows delivered. The seller will likely not refund your money but it's worth pursuing with them too.

If it shows delivered by the P.O. then it likely got delivered to the wrong address.

I know the feeling.. I had a similar incident a few months ago with 2 sweet BU silver Jefferson War Nickels. Tracking confirmed delivery. But I never received it. Turns out my regular mail lady was on vacation that week and a replacement was filling in. I was disappointed and suspected foul play. I contacted the seller and told him I understood that it wasn't his fault, and that I wasn't looking for a refund, I just wanted his help in finding out what happened. He basically washed his hands of it due to delivery confirmation.

I filed a lost package claim with the USPS. And I filed a conflict resolution claim with ebay, explained my case and added that I simply wanted the seller to file a claim with the post office from his end.

After several follow up calls to the USPS I received a call from a postal supervisor. He said that After interviewing the mail man they concluded that the package was mis delivered.. However in a city as densely populated as mine, there was no way to even guess where it might have ended up. But he offered advice on how ebay buyer protection would cover the loss.

In a few days I received a "courtesy refund" from ebay buyer protection.

Unfortunately theres little to no chance the PO will say its missing when tracking says delivered and theres really nothing that the cops can or will do about it. Theres no telling where the package ever ended up since it was scanned in delivered, which sometimes they do before they actually drop it off being lazy. Unless you have a security camera outside your door or mailbox no telling who could have taken it if it even ended up there.

If you contact ebay and the item doesn't cost to much they may just refund it to keep you happy. Its worth a shot at least. Theres little to no chance that the seller will refund your money and eat the loss. I'm not saying youre lying but thats what theyll think when he sees the tracking says delivered.

The only real way to make sure this doesn't happen is to have things sent with signature confirmation. That way if it gets misdelivered or someone else picks it up you can show thats not your signature that signed for it and then actually have proof for the post office and ebay ect

Unfortunately as already noted by so many, when something is stated as delivered and it really is missing, your chances grow less and less each day. Hopefully you may see that coin someday but highly unlikely.
Think of this. The post office has stated it was delivered. Now even if they find it, not much chance they'll admit they lied. AND if the postal delivery person actually BORROWED that coin, that peson surely will not admit that too. If a neighbor took it out of your mail box, not much chance they'll come running up to you and say "Here, I store this from you". Same with a landloard, friend, relative, etc.
All this is just one of those many, many such stories from ebay. And imagine how many are not even reported since the item may be to cheap for some to worry about. And that is why I never use ebay.
Now here is someting interesting. A long, long time ago, I used to send rolls of film to a place for developing. Before the digital age of course. One I sent never came back. It was a roll of one of my neighbors kids at a party they wanted me to photograph. The kids were all teens or less at the time. One day many years later, in the mail I got a package from the film developing place. Yes, it was of that party. All the kids were now grown up, some married, moved away, etc. Still the mail goes on and on and on.
Not long ago on TV they showed a story about the postal service on PBS. And an interesting thing was the dead letter/package location at the main office. It contained many thousands of unidentified STUFF.

If I remember correctly didnt ebay just decide to eat the cost themselves and not penalize the seller for it?