Exactly the same position? If you swap £1 for £30 with person A, and person B comes along and whips the £30 out of your hand and replaces it with £1, and tells you not to complain because after all, you're in exactly the same position as you were before, Elmo... be honest. You wouldn't turn around and walk calmly away whistling a merry tune now, would you? In this case, person B is Royal Mail. When you send an item, the cashier always asks you "What is the value of the item?" If you are selling an unwanted gift worth £100, its value is £100, end of story. If they are only going to compensate you what you paid for it, they should clearly ask you "How much did you pay for this item?" to make sure people realise what's going on. Asking how much its worth when they take your money to pay for special delivery, and then saying "Sorry, we only pay how much you paid for it" when they lose the item is misleading.