Shipped large/expensive item to PO Box. Buyer has not picked it up yet.
Could use some advice on a recent eBay sale. First time poster here fwiw. I’ve been selling on eBay for over 15 years.
A few weeks ago I had any largest sale ever (over $1500 item). Not only was it my biggest sale from a value standpoint but it was also the largest/heaviest item I’ve ever had to ship. Unfortunately, the person who bought it lives on the other side of the country. They paid over $250 in shipping fees alone. Shipping this was a whole endeavor in itself. Their mailing address was a PO Box. I contacted the buyer several times to see if they could provide an actual home address for the delivery so I had more shipping options. I sent 4 messages and they never responded. They were a new account who had made the purchase the same day that they made their account. The name, address and phone number seemed legit so I had no reason to question the authenticity of the buyer. The money cleared into my account immediately.
UPS was not an option to print a label through eBay. FedEx was an option but I got mixed feedback on whether or not FedEx would actually delivery to a USPS PO Box. I eventually decided to ship via USPS even though it cost me nearly $200 more than FedEx would have and over $100 more than the buyer even paid for shipping (there was no discount I guess due to size). I figured that it would be safer if there never had to be any transfer between carriers. I paid for full shipping insurance and signature at delivery. The box was huge… nearly the max limit. 69 lbs, 24x24x30.
It finally made it to its destination but checking the tracking number, it looks as if the person has made no attempt to pick the item up. It’s as if they forgot that they even bought it. I’m worried that the item would get returned to me. I really do not want this very large and very fragile package coming across country again. Would I be subject to refunding the buyer if that happens? Should I try to contact the buyer again? Or reach out to the post office? Any advice would be appreciated.
TLDR: Very large, very valuable and very fragile packaged shipped across country to PO Box. Buyer has made no attempt to pick it up and has not responded to communication through eBay. Concerned item will be returned to me and I will have to refund and eat the additional cost I paid in shipping.