US Postal Service Insurance
 

Freaks me out to mail a very expensive card to someone across the country, but the insurance seems very expensive and hopefully completely unnecessary. Just mailed an expensive card to someone today priority mail, signature required, and added $1000 of insurance. (Which is a fraction of what the card is worth.) Three questions:

- has anyone had a disaster where a pricey card was actually lost and never found by USPS?

- do you take additional insurance commonly?

- is there one way of shipping (USPS, UPS, Fed Ex) that you only use when shipping a pricey card?

Thanks.

USPS Registered Mail. It is very safe and way cheaper for high end items to insure the full amount. It takes a little longer, but well worth it for the security.

I would never send a high end item Fed Ex. Their insurance only covers $500 on sports memorabilia (I was sending a card to SGC that was valued at $2000, so I tried to insure it at Fed Ex, $500 was all they would cover, I saw the policy myself). I believe the auction houses use a third party insurer when they ship Fed Ex. I don't know what UPS does, but USPS will cover what you insured the item for, as long as you can prove the value ( I doubt they would pay out $1000 on a $5 card, but I don't know that policy). When deciding if I am going to insure the card, I always think about what would I have to pay out if it is lost, could I refund the guy's money if the card is lost, or, can I afford to take the hit that losing that card would mean? If not, I spend the money on insurance.

Insurance
 

What I would like to know is if anyone has bought insurance and had a loss and actually collected. I remember on ebay when some buyers would require the buyer to purchase insurance. But if the card never arrived the buyer had no effective way to prove a loss. If the seller buys it he has the coverage but he has been paid. The buyer would seem to have no effective way to file a claim on insurance purchased by the seller.

Remember Seinfeld didn't get reimbursed, Newman tried to screw him.

Steve - I had a modern 1-of-1 $45 card get lost forever, but what has sold me on always adding the insurance from now on was having a PSA-8 Goudey destroyed in shipment without coverage...lost $500+ on that.

For anyone, the quandary (with all insurance coverage) is the 'Dirty Harry' question:

"Do you feel lucky? Well, do ya punk?"

Insurance is a sometimes necessary evil, but I've had a loss without it and do not want that to occur again.

I use USPS..back a few yrs, my submission to Beckett got lost. It was only like 100 dollar, but that's what I insured it for and that what I filed and got that plus s/h cost. It was quick and easy. I did it online, and attached prices of sold items similar to what I had.

As for USPS insurance...I have shipped many high-end cards, some 2-3k. WHat I found out is if its anything over 2k, use registered mail (note you use that paper tape on the corners of the priorty box)--not the clear!!!
USPS will insure up to 5k.

I am skeptic as well shipping high-end cards thru the mail, so when I pack them, I wrap then good(cardboard/bubble/peanuts), and sometimes in a plastic bag, in case a hole suddenly appears during arrival. I mostly use priorty boxes, to give me the added security for its rigidness compared to bubble mailers.

Unless things have changed, you can insure a package up to $25,000 with Registered Mail.

I lost $600 in coins one time and it was at a time in my life I couldn't afford $600. I try to weigh the cost and sometimes I do and sometimes I don't.

The most priority mail will insure for is $5000 and I checked today and they wanted $60 to insure for that. Seemed a bit much, but if anything happens I will be kicking myself in the posterior.

Nerve racking stuff.

Registered goes higher and is cheaper because they almost never lose a registered package. It is locked up each step of the way snd has to be signed for every time it changed hands.

Why I am still hesitant to send my cards to PSA to get graded, and I have a border and customs to deal with too! :eek:

You guys should look into collector's insurance, that way your stuff is covered at all times, including in the mail. (In other words, you never again have to buy insurance when shipping.) With Collectibles Insurance you can get a $20-30 k policy for like $150/year. If you ship a fair amount, or send expensive cards, then you pay for a huge chunk of the premium in saved insurance with the shipper. You have to follow the shipping rules (below) based on the value of the item and schedule anything over $5000. Note: the rates are different based on whether you are a dealer or collector.

http://collectinsure.com/

There are a few threads about these policies and many board members have said they have made claims and had no issues with this company.

+1. A great way to ship very valuable items.