Another email from REA

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Posted By: joe

Just wondering if anyone read this latest email concerning Fedex insurance. I'm just posting the 1st sentence from REA mail.
"Federal Express does NOT insure baseball cards, memorabilia, or collectibles of any kind."
How does this affect cards sent to SGC for grading. They seem to want Fedex most times. I always send registered mail myself. Any comments?

Joe

Ty Cobb, Spikes flying!

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Posted By: T206Collector

I've never known SGC to want you to send to them via Fed Ex -- in fact, I've always used USPS or UPS to get my cards there. However this is strange given that SGC does ship its cards out via FedEx. In any event, these are questions best asked of SGC's stellar customer service. Why not shoot them an e-mail?

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Posted By: anthony

unless i have an old submission form (in front of me) the back states "packages insured for up to $500 can be shipped via insured mail" then next to that it states "packages insured for over $500 MUST be shipped via registered mail" it also states that FEDEX can be used and that there are guidelines to follow if using your business FEDEX account, etc...

again, i hope i dont have an old form seeing how its going out today!

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Posted By: warshawlaw

Most private insurance issued for you or for the grading company or auctioneer will cover losses with Fed Ex shipped materials provided that the signature requirements are not waived. If you have private insurance, you need not buy postal insurance provided you ship in conformity with your policy requirements. Odds are that SGC has insurance as does Mastro or any other auctioneer, and it allows Fed Ex shipment for that reason.

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Posted By: Jim Clarke

I think anyone who uses Fed-X or UPS is taking a BIG RISK. Good luck getting a claim paid, and in a timely mannor. I had a problem with Fed-X with an auction shipment a few years ago. Fed-X said they left the package at my door... They claimed that I had signed a slip stating it was OK to do so.. (NO WAY WOULD I EVER DO THAT)..Fed-X claimed that if you have ever signed one of those little flyers left on your door in the past, that they keep it on file for future deliveries. Make sure you have NEVER signed any of those flyers for 10.00 items, as it also applies to 50,000 items as well. Since Fed-X could never come up with this flyer, that they claimed I had signed 9 years ago, I was able to get compensated. Plus, the auction company had private insurance on the package, which came into play.

I have never had a problem with US Mail. That is the only way any package over 500.00 should be sent anyway!!! Plus it's the cheapest if you use the registered insurance.... JC

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Posted By: Bob

You roll the dice with UPS also. Besides the great tragedy of having an entire set of just-graded E98s lost by UPS somewhere in their Little Rock facility a few years ago(kind of like the roach motel-they went in to the LR facility and never came out), they have a penchant for lobing our packages in to, over, through and under bushes, etc. I remember the good old days when they used to put a notice on your door or elsewhere that a package had been dropped off at your house, now if you don't happen to spot it you are SOL.

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Posted By: Ricky Y

As bad a rap as USPS gets...I've never had a problem sending cards to PSA or SGC with USPS. Registered mail is secure and relatively fast. I reread SGC and Fed EX is an option not a requirement.

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Posted By: Jon Canfield

That all being said, I guess I can say you take your chances with the USPS, too. In the last 10 years, I've had to file 3 claims for lost packages (out of probably 1500 I've shipped) - twice as a seller, and once as a buyer. As of today, I am 0 for 3 when collecting the insurance I paid for - one being a $700 item (the others being a $300 and $75 item). I submitted all paper-work, proof off loss, sworn statements from the intended recipients, etc. All 3 times the postal service "weaseled" their way out of paying. Now when I sell, I require insurance but I clearly state in my auctions that any dispute for lost shipments must be taken up by the purchaser. May not be the best solution, but I apparently have no luck and have been out big money as a result.

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Posted By: Tom Boblitt

be sure you save EVERYTHING because they (FedEx, UPS, USPS) will almost always refuse the claim the first time. Especially on collectibles--not just baseball memorabilia, MOST carriers are hesitant to do anything about it because of establishment of value. I've seen a lot of claims paid on some things and not many on others. You might think some carrier is better than the other but they're all about the same. Rob Lifson has purchased an outside rider on all his incoming (and I would assume outgoing) merchandise. When I sent a T206 set to him, he requested it be sent FedEx (arrgghh) and needed the incoming tracking number for confirmation it was sent that way. His rider covered the insurance in to him. Think that may be pretty standard. Those people that insure the goods probably do it at a slight discount to the 40-50 cents per hundred dollar value that UPS charges or the much higher rates at FedEx or the Post Office. Registered Mail does offer supposedly the most secure method although I've had one of those misplaced for 2-3 weeks as well. Just buyer and seller beware on any of them. Also....in most cases, it's up to the seller to initiate a claim and they will need detailed info and potentially signature from you attesting to the fact the goods were never received.

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Posted By: Frank Wakefield

I once sent a deed to English property from Kentucky to the United Kingdom (England) via UPS international overnight service. The deed never was delivered. After a week of fussing, I ascertained that UPS acknowledged that the envelope reached London, and that there was no record of it after that... it was nowhere to be found. They wouldn't even refund what I'd paid to have it sent.

They are ok for books, coffee, holiday gifts... don't send anything you value via UPS.

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Posted By: Brian Weisner

Hi guys,
I agree with JC, I send everything over 500.00 USPS Registered Mail and have had only one problem. It was a psa 7 Cobb Bat Off which was stolen from it's package. The box arrived, but the card had been removed. The USPS Paid the claim in 30 days without any problems.
Be well Brian


PS I also had a nodder damaged in shipment, that they paid the full cost on without question.

I would also suggest using a smaller Post Office where you can get to know the postmaster.

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Posted By: jay behrens

Don't even get me start on UPS and what a bunch theiving, uncaring bastards they are. You can use the seach fuction to find the details. Needless to say, they will never, ever get another penny from me.

They "lost" contents of 3 packages in a 2 month span. In 25 years of using the USPS, they have never lost a package of mine.

Jay

I love pinatas. You get to beat the crap of something and get rewarded with candy.

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Posted By: Cobby33

I'm dealing with USPS now on a package, which according to them, was delivered. I have never seen the package.

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Posted By: arcade

I've always thought it better to declare baseball cards as antique photographs instead.

(I stopped trusting UPS once I watched a drived throw a box containing a computer memory chip up 4 flights of stairs. )