Options
What's the safest way to mail an expensive coin, for example $2000?
Samuel8
✭✭✭
I am just curious what you guys use at eBay.
0
Comments
USPS Registered and insured mail. It's slow but nothing is more secure. I've used it for many years without a problem.
If you don't care about speed, Registered is the safest way to mail something. Historically somewhere around $700 in value it's cheaper than regular insured mail (I haven't checked that number in a while, so it might not be right anymore). That said, it can be slow and the signature may not qualify for eBay's requirements for signature proof. Express should get you the signature you need, but will cost more.
If you ship this kind of material with any regularity, consider an outside insurance carrier, which will be much cheaper than the USPS, and then just ship Priority with a signature. That's what I do.
Small Box Priority USPS Signature
I don’t believe that’s as safe as registered-insured mail.
Mark Feld* of Heritage Auctions*Unless otherwise noted, my posts here represent my personal opinions.
You are correct.
disagree in my experience
I have purchased a few St. Gaduins $20 on eBay and they just sent first class. I guess that shipper of a lot of coins figured it was a good gamble. Just my luck on the few I sell one would go missing.
In general, for anything $1,500 or above I only use USPS Registered, insured, signature.
It is not only safer, I find it is cheaper than most any other options with insurance.
My US Mint Commemorative Medal Set
yeah, USPS statistics are for losers...
All comments reflect the opinion of the author, even when irrefutably accurate.
Some people have private insurance or self-insure. If you sell enough, the statistics work out. Insurance has to be the #1 profit-maker for the USPS [if they had a profit]. In my experience, at MOST there are issues with roughly 1 package per 1000. Yet they charge over $1 per $100 insurance.
All comments reflect the opinion of the author, even when irrefutably accurate.
Registered. Period.
Keeper of the VAM Catalog • Professional Coin Imaging • Prime Number Set • World Coins in Early America • British Trade Dollars • Variety Attribution
You can get an electronic signature with registered mail.
In all the responses did anybody really emphasize registered mail yet?!
Oh yeah, registered.
Next, registered.
Oh, and when you want to be really safe and get it there, registered.
Next question: safest place to receive those other packages. Post office box. Not your rural mailbox at the end of your 2 mile dirt road. That occasionally gets “accidentally” knocked off the post by errant beer bottles.
With all due respect the correct answer is registered.
Everyone's go to answer is registered mail... but lest we forget, registered packages can get lost or misplaced too. It's happened to us in the past. Registered is safest but very slow so if you have an impatient buyer it could lead to drama. That said, on big value $5K up that's still what we do.
I have always thought that the longer an item is in the mailstream, the more chances there are of it getting lost. If it's $2000 as it is here, I usually go insured priority mail (you can insure PM up to $5000 as I recall) and they'll normally get it in 2 to 3 days, sometimes next day if close by and things are in alignment. If they want it fast, in that case we'd go insured express overnight but seldom is it needed.
RIP Mom- 1932-2012
I have mailed thousands upon thousands of coins through USPS.
Most all were padded envelopes. Maybe 5% are priority signature boxes.
The USPS has never lost any of my thousands of packages. 0% (ZERO) loss rate.
I have used registered mail maybe 3 times in my life.
I used USPS Registered Insured mail earlier this your for a consignment coin worth over 5K. The parcel got misdirect to an out of the way post office and finally made it to my client a week late. The client called me and told my the USPS registered parcel was flattened like a pancake. He was expecting a broken damaged slab and coin. He did tell me that my excellent packaging of my coins saved this slab and coin. So I guess registered did get there safely
I make my decisions from experience and not from what the crowd does, always.
at $1000+ it's actually cheaper and much safer to ship registered. Registered is the only class that will pay a full claim on anything bullion. Insurance is included and flat rate priority can be use if shipment has some weight
Government is the great fiction through which everybody endeavors to live at the expense of everybody else. - Bastiat
more experience will cure you. OP asked for safest, not fastest.
Government is the great fiction through which everybody endeavors to live at the expense of everybody else. - Bastiat
I still can not take you serous because of your last aviator.
Registered packages are not just sitting out there waiting to be picked. They are under constant lock and key and require inter-transport signatures. Their added security is why they are slower. Loss of registered mail normally results in loss of USPS job. While they do to get hung up occasionally because of the security an online inquiry wakes up the guy who put it in the safe and forgot about it and gets it moving again. Why? Because he's the last one to sign for it and he values his job.
Government is the great fiction through which everybody endeavors to live at the expense of everybody else. - Bastiat
It's called electronic return receipt, you request it at the counter (requires no form), is cheaper than "signature confirmation" and ebay/PP accept it since it is viewable online with the tracking number.
Government is the great fiction through which everybody endeavors to live at the expense of everybody else. - Bastiat
I ship Priority Mail Express with Signature Confirmation. Buyer gets it next day and it's worked every time. Please note, I am not a financial advisor or shipping advisor I just like the post office!🤣😂
My next aviator will be Howard Hughes
Government is the great fiction through which everybody endeavors to live at the expense of everybody else. - Bastiat
>
Do you realize you just jinxed yourself?
BHNC #203
no, as I knocked on wood
And jinxes only work on fishing trips when you talk about how good fishing will be on your way out to the fishing grounds
I should have clarified--it's not automatic. The fact that Registered gets a signature and is already secure may lull someone into thinking that their shipment is good, but because the default signature isn't stored/available in the way eBay wants, it's not "good enough" for them.
Registered mail and a PO box. (The PO box assures that you have to either sign for it or unlock the box it's in)
Don't be a cheap & insure it for the full amount in case something happens.
Don't rely on tracking info. It is often wrong.
My Saint Set
Funny, I don't recall saying they were "sitting out there waiting to be picked". I merely pointed out that such items can and have been lost and misplaced. I've been shipping stuff for almost four decades and know how RM works. It has to be signed for every time it changes hands...in theory at least. We had a scenario where someone in the chain of custody forgot that step and it sat apparently unnoticed locked up inside a truck until someone found it in NY (it was going from IL to NE). Stuff happens. I've always been a fan of minimizing the time an item is in the shipper's hands, so in the OP scenario of a $2k package my personal experience is that fully insured Priority Mail will get it there faster with the same insurance protection.
RIP Mom- 1932-2012
simply pointed out that registered packages are not as likely to get lost or misplaced. Same insurance protection does not equate to same level of safety/security. As pointed out by many here registered offers less risk of loss over all other forms of shipment. That makes it the safest method that the OP was inquiring about.
And for those who are convinced non registered is just as safe, well, it's just a matter of time. . .
Government is the great fiction through which everybody endeavors to live at the expense of everybody else. - Bastiat
Every insurance guy I know is really rich, I wonder why?
I self insure 99.9% of my packages and put the "insurance" money in my pocket.
this just might be one of those times that learning from the experience of others is more beneficial than waiting on your own bad experience.
Government is the great fiction through which everybody endeavors to live at the expense of everybody else. - Bastiat
WTF are you talking about. There is soo much bad information on this forum on how to run a coin business, It is just amazing
I am so glad that I did not take the advice from so called business experts on this forum.
I have been mailing products to clients for over 40 years now, I think I have "some" experience in shipping. Geez.
OP asked for safest. I would agree registered is generally safest, but priority is also plenty safe. Most cost efficient per loss? First class or small flat rate box.
And skip the usps insurance. It is beyond worthless. If you must insure, use private insurance.
Aercus Numismatics - Certified coins for sale
Speaking of fishing trips.....................What was your latest catch
boston
Successful transactions with : MICHAELDIXON, Manorcourtman, Bochiman, bolivarshagnasty, AUandAG, onlyroosies, chumley, Weiss, jdimmick, BAJJERFAN, gene1978, TJM965, Smittys, GRANDAM, JTHawaii, mainejoe, softparade, derryb, Ricko
Bad transactions with : nobody to date
During the past 10 years or so, I received two 2k+ slabbed gold coins in big, plain, padded envelops, without any protection inside, first class mail. I do not remember I saw insurance on it or not. I do remember very clearly, one of them was a 2012 burnished gold eagle.
I went Kayak fishing last week in La Jolla because of information I got about a live Squid bite.
Got out there early and caught plenty of live squid for bait. The yellowtail only came through 2 times that morning and a few guys hooked up.
Then, all of sudden, I had a fish on. I started to go for a sleigh ride and the fish kept doing "head shakes" associated with yellowtail gamefish. When I got the fish to color, I knew it was not a yellowtail and first hoped it to be a delicious White Sea Bass.
Unfortunately, The fish turn out to be a 70 poundish Black Sea Bass which is an endangered species and had to release and revive. Made a huge mistake by dead sticking my fishing pole in a rod holder while try to get the hook out and the fish flipped and broke a $250 rod, oh well lesson learned.
A very fun day on the water for sure as I fished with some very close friends
Exciting times in a kayak
Successful transactions with : MICHAELDIXON, Manorcourtman, Bochiman, bolivarshagnasty, AUandAG, onlyroosies, chumley, Weiss, jdimmick, BAJJERFAN, gene1978, TJM965, Smittys, GRANDAM, JTHawaii, mainejoe, softparade, derryb, Ricko
Bad transactions with : nobody to date
My insurance requires that I switch to Priority with a signature at $500 or above, but plenty of dealers will have higher limits for various methods. I ship slabs almost exclusively in padded mailers (assuming the order isn't large enough to need a box) and I don't think I've ever had a slab break. That said, I've handled various padded mailers before, and some are notably less padded than others, and I wouldn't use those.
Private insurance companies typically prohibit any markings on the package that would indicate it is valuable.
Safest is registered but you should also be fine with priority mail with signature or express mail with signature. While delays happen, it's very rare the post office actually completely loses a package, though it does occasionally happen.
I rarely ship coins of high value - though I did ship two sets of gold Britannia's back around 2010. I used Registered Mail and it went very well. Standard USPS insurance. I will say though, if I were doing high volume shipping, I would investigate much further to ensure the safety of the products. Cheers, RickO
Overnight, no insurance. ~$35 and they'll have it the next day. IMO, less time in a 3rd party's hands is less chance of a stolen/lost package.
Check out my iPhone app SlabReader!
I would never ship anything over$1000 by any other way except Registered.