Anyone use Discount Shipping Insurance? Seems like a good service.

JadeRareCoin

We are very close to switching all of our shipping insurance to Discount Shipping Insurance (their web site). We have been discussing the details with them and everything seems to be on the level. To complement their services, we are going with Stamps.com for our postage needs. The 2 services seem to work well together. The insurance part of the new arrangement should cut our insurance costs by 50% and the Stamps.com service is just simply more convenient and a time saver.

Has anyone here used either service before? Any thoughts or opinions??

Thanks, Dennis

airplanenut

I use a different service, but the one you linked is a little bit cheaper. Be sure that you get a rider for coins, as I needed a special one to send them. Report back with more!

Jeremy

JadeRareCoin

Be sure that you get a rider for coins

We had them fax us a rider on coins, currency and bullion today. We are going to try them and will report the results here on the forum. To start, they are limiting us to $1000 per package, but we can ship more expensive packages if we call in the package on a case-by-case scenario. I like the fact that it is super easy to actually get a real person on the phone consistently. They give personal service and it's not some gigantic entity like eBay or PayPal where they discourage human interaction. Seems like they are a relatively small company. Too good to be true??

CarlWohlforth

That does sound interesting. Please do report back on how it works for you.

Neptune

I used stamps.com for awhile, but gave it up for some reason - maybe because the labels were so expensive ........ maybe they have gone down in price. Also, you must be real careful about keeping misprints and info relating to them, so you can get a refund for those amounts - and you may check the 'rules' on that. Also, I would not used inkjet ink for the stamps.com - because if they get damp they would be ruined. I think there was another problem, but don't remember ........ just read it all and be careful printing the correct amounts, etc.

airplanenut

I've had no problems with the service I use... they're also friendly, but a little bit more expensive. Do they make you ship a certain way (ie, I need to use Delivery Confirmation or something else tracking-wise to gey a lower rate). Also, for some reason, it's more expensive to ship Registered private than with USPS insurance, so they never get those packages. Then again, I doubt you'd send a $1000 package non-Registered or FedEx

Jeremy

JadeRareCoin

We are told that can use any USPS service (First Class, Priority, Registered, Parcel) to get the coverage. They told us that they prefer Registered Mail, since it minimizes their risk, but it's not mandatory. I do ship $1000 and higher packages via First Class sometimes. Mostly I use Priority with Delivery Confirmation and Insurance. With this new service, I will ship via Priority and will be covered under the 3rd party insurance carrier. I will probably add Deliv. Confirmation just to have additional tracking.

Under Stamps.com, I am told that every package shipped through them has a tracking number, even First Class. That's fantastic, imo. The cost for Stamps.com is $16/month for the service and the postage is the same as the USPS. The only start up expense that we will have is the postal scale, which is $50. It connects to my computer via a USB port and works with their web site to help calculate postage, thereby preventing any incorrect shipping amounts.

airplanenut

That's no bad, Dennis. Also, you can get free DC for Priority mail ($.13 for first class if it's 3/4" thick or more) with the USPS eShipping Assitant.

Jeremy

Conder101

The real test of how good the company will be for you will be detemined when you have to make a claim against your coverage. It doesn't matter how friendly or convienent they are to deal with when you are buying the insurance if they don't pay out or are very difficult to get a settlement from when a package is lost. So please report back again after you've had to make a claim.

JadeRareCoin

The real test of how good the company will be for you will be detemined when you have to make a claim against your coverage. It doesn't matter how friendly or convienent they are to deal with when you are buying the insurance if they don't pay out or are very difficult to get a settlement from when a package is lost. So please report back again after you've had to make a claim.

Exactly right! Which is why I posted the question in this thread. I have never had a claim with the USPS, which is amazing considering the amount of packages that we ship. I hope that we won't have to file a claim with DSI, but if I do I will post the results here. My logic is that I am saving about 60% by using the DSI insurance instead of the USPS insurance. Over a period of time, the amount of money that I save could be looked at as a financial reserve. If DSI doesn't pay a claim in the future for, lets say $500, I would not be too upset if I had already saved $1000.

We used DSI and Stamps.com for our packages yesterday. We shipped about $5,000 worth of Priority packages. Each package cost only $3.85 and we received free delivery confirmation with the USPS, plus a backup delivery confirmation from Stamps.com. We saved a lot of money with just one day of shipments. Another great thing is that we saved time since we just handed all of our packages (with postage attached) to the USPS clerk and didn't have to wait in line.

I am happy so far.

wayneherndon

PM sent.