Recently I had sold a coin on eBay and the buyer contacted me and said that the package was empty. Upon close inspection, there was a slit in the package where the contents could be removed. Looking into the buyer I saw that he also sells coins and had more than 20,000 feedback and was also a repeat customer, so I had no reason not to believe him. I actually had another of the coin that he purchased and asked him if he would like me to send it as a replacement, and he said yes, so I did. Since it appeared to be a blatant case of theft somewhere on the postal route I decided to report it to the postal inspector, which I did through the website. While looking into that I noticed something that said my package was insured. I shipped using the ground standard or whatever it's called and bought the label from eBay. Apparently insurance is included and I had no idea. Now, I've heard on this message board how hard it is to get a payout on insured coins so I didn't feel too hopeful but I figured might as well try. I filled out the form and sent a copy of the eBay order details page for proof of value ($30). In the meantime, I had been contacted three times by the postal inspector. They wanted a photo of the package to show the damage. I messaged the buyer several times and never got a response, which is weird because I'd think he would want this investigated too. In any case, since I couldn't get a photo they closed the case, so I figured I'd have even less chance on that insurance claim. Lo and behold I get the mail today and there's a check for $30 from the USPS. I honestly never expected that but I guess it shows it doesn't hurt to ask.
I am surprised that they paid out, especially since you could not produce what they were asking for. Glad they did as I have no doubts you were out the coin.
I'm thinking they had enough information to track it to a known facility or individual that had multiple other cases.
