Yeah this was posted recently here:
https://www.amibay.com/showthread.php?t=42974
I sold a lot of stuff the week before Easter on eBay and some people diudn't pay until the Easter weekend, when I posted on the Tuesday I got stung with increased postage prices

icard
They can't force you to send recorded though, it's up to you what service you choose, you can have First Class, 2nd Class, Airmail, Surface mail, etc
You can get a proof of posting for anything under the value of £46 and can still claim compensation up to that amount for loss
Well I use the term claim loosely as they've not paid me on my lost 'signed for' package from last year yet, they are amendment it was delivered even though there is no POD on their tracking page
It's really not worth using Royal mail for parcels unless they are small packets now, you're better off with Collect+ in UK or another Courier via parcel2go or ParcelMonkey.
Same applies to overseas now too, over 1kg, just use the courier services, it's pretty much the same price and fully tracked...