missing overseas package

[Ecobota]

I had the whole story typed up and my computer ate it so I will make this short and sweet:

December 14: I mailed a package overseas from my local post office. Even though I had shipped to this customer before without problems this time they wouldn't let me ship it the same way and I ended up using registered mail since (according to the employee) it was like international tracking and insurance.

Dec 16: The tracking shows it leaving the country out of NYC

Feb 8: I notice that the tracking shows it still "in transit"

Feb 10: The post office is "launching an investigation" into where the package is and I have to wait 22 business days to find out.

Obviously I'm not going to make my customer wait that long. I'm already appalled that its 2 months late - i knew it would take longer than normal being the christmas season but, honestly, i forgot about it with the holidays myself and she never contacted me to say she never received it. I just happened to notice when I was going over my 2013 transactions.

I offered her a refund or an express shipped fed ex replacement although I have a feeling the package might still show up.

But my question is what recourse do I have with the post office? I'm not sure how to go about getting the my money back either for the refund or replacement items. Do i have to wait till their investigation is over? Do i have to prove I refunded her or sent her a replacement? Do i have to use the USPS to send the replacement if I'm going to claim it or can I use Fed Ex since i'm a bit disillusioned with USPS right now. I'm already miffed because the insurance listed on my receipt is not for the amount the items were worth... in fact its about a 1/3 but that was my fault for not noticing that at the time of purchase. But I'd at least like that amount back.

Has anyone gotten their money back from the post office in this instance?

[Ecobota]

additionally: would the Etsy Seller Protection cover this? It is a package shipped to one of the listed overseas countries.

https://www.etsy.com/help/article/4669

I'm confused because it says that the seller protection is for:
Fund protection for Direct Checkout transactions is limited to $1000 USD per transaction.

but then it says it:
They do not, however, reimburse sellers for refunds that they have decided to issue.

So where is there a fund limit?

[Former_Member]

What recourse do you have with USPS?

The only way you will be able to file a claim for a lost package is if the package was insured. And then all you will be able to claim is the insured value.

It doesn't matter whether you refund or not. All that matters is that you prove that it hasn't been delivered.

Who did you insure with? If you insured through a third party insurer then that's where I would start to look to see what your recourse is.