My concern with that, and the reason why I did what I did, was because I thought the USPS specifically forbade shipping damaged goods again if a claim is going to be filed. If I knew I could still make the claim, I would have had it returned.
My understanding is the person who received the damaged goods is to file the claim. That way if usps wants to verify that the damage exists usps can request the person that filed the claim bring the item in for review.
I agree that is not likely to happen on a $50.00 claim.
Another thought is the buyer, in your case, if he was doing this same scam over and over wants the seller to initiate the claim so he is not on record at usps as having multiple damaged in shipment claims. He is more than happy getting a refund and the item at a deep discount.
