Posted By:
Misunderestimated (Brian H.)I sold a 1914 CJ 3-Finger Brown on eBay and shipped it Priority insured and the card was removed from the box. But for whatever odd reason the package got shipped back to me resealed neatly but emptied of the card. I called the disappointed buy/winner and informed him about what happened and subsequently refunded his money.
After I put together a pretty compelling argument (evidence etc. -- I think the weight differential was useful) I went to one of the bigger post office facilities here in Chicago and spoke to a supervisor who helped me fill out the forms in a way she thought would be most likely work with the postal inspector and I did get my insurance money for the sale price about a month later from the USPS.
The card was never found by the postal inspector.
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Also I use the method cory suggests once a card (OR CARDS) reach about $1K -- the Brown card wasn't in the best shape so it was well-short of 4 figures. I have never had a problem with Registered mail as either a sender or recipient.