Shipping Insurance

[ValKehl]

Originally Posted by ALR-bishop

I am just a buyer on ebay. If a seller charges for insurance or includes it in the shipping charge, and the item in lost or damaged in shipping, how does a claim get made ? The seller bought the insurance and owned the card so it would seem they have to file the claim. But if the card was damaged the buyer has the "evidence" of that. If the card was lost, I suppose the buyer must in some way affirm it was never received for the claim (I realize tracking proof may come into play in the case of a lost card).

Has anyone had experience with filing such claims and how long it takes and how easy or difficult it is the pursue such a claim ?

Al, it is my understanding that for eBay sales, the seller is responsible for getting the item sold to the purchaser without loss or damage, whether or not the seller has insured the shipment. My wife and I sell a variety of relatively low-value items (mostly non-sports stuff) on eBay, and we purchase USPS insurance for shipments valued at roughly $75 or more (USPS provides $100 of free insurance for eBay sales shipped via Priority Mail). Over the years, we have had a few insured shipmentss damaged in transit, and our purchasers have always been very cooperative in sending us pics of the damage to attach to the ins. claims we filed online with the USPS (this is an easy process). And, the USPS has always paid our claims promptly. Unfortunately, the USPS ins. does not cover the shipping cost we paid to the USPS, so we end up having to eat this when we give a full refund to the purchaser. Knock on wood, we have never had a shipment disappear in transit, but it is my understanding that if the USPS Tracking System shows the shipment was delivered, the eBay seller is off the hook and the eBay purchaser is usually out of luck, even if it wasn't actually delivered. Hope this helps.
Val