Shipping Insurance Question
forthe4unofit
Posts: 219
How do you guys handle shipping insurance with your customers? Do you just back the cost into the shipping price, or do you give them the option to pay additional for insurance? Or, do you feel obligated to pay out of your own pocket to insure an item you're sending. Thoughts?
Interested in any Favre stuff you have to offer. 
0
Comments
Its a no win situation.
Most items I pack very well so they can't break and then pay for del confirmation. That way you are only protecting against the PO stealing the item.
If I insure something I charge exact price or lower and state that in the listing. That way bidder can feel more comfortable buying.
Just make sure you know the paypal rules and get signature confirmation for items over $250
Seller is not obligated to provide insurance. Just get the item there in condition sent.
Seller cannot just add insurance separately. It must be added into the overall shipping costs.
Paying for insurance only makes the PO rich and nothing else for lower priced items (below $100) IMO.
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<< <i>Seller cannot just add insurance separately. It must be added into the overall shipping costs. >>
Technically true, but a seller can always use calculated shipping rates and include the exact cost of insurance as the "handling fee," and then state in the description that "Exact shipping plus insurance rates will be charged, not a penny more; I am not making any profit on shipping and handling."
The only problem, if you want to call it that, would be if bidding on the item goes higher than expected and a higher level of insurance is required. In such cases, it's a nice problem for a seller to have, and for someone who routinely charges exact shipping, it should be more than tolerable to pay out of pocket for the higher insurance rate. For fixed price listings, this will never be an issue, and it's still possible to use calculated shipping.
Copy and paste this into your browser, this USPS site will tell you where your parcel is every step of the way.
http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=1&sqi=2&ved=0CBcQFjAA&url=http://www.usps.com/shipping/trackandconfirm.htm&rct=j&q=usps tracking service&ei=OotZTfD0ENPAtgfm8_z1DA&usg=AFQjCNEv1CwSFKgZeBsXQphuoxjLAad0WQ&sig2=jQuShx4Pl0R5gFlAq5AM2Q
<< <i>I insurance everything because it protects against loss or damage, and you can use it to track. It makes delivery confirmation unnecessary. Everyone thinks that delivery confirmation is a means to track but it is not, it only tells you if the item arrives. I sent a letter with a check once with delivery confirmation. It was lost for 2 weeks and nobody could tell me where it was. If you have a general idea what your item will sell for, you can arrive at a reasonable guesstimate for shipping and insurance. However, no matter how accurate you are with your shipping costs, buyers will never be happy. >>
If you want to follow Ebay guidelines, you must use DC. I don't think Ebay uses your insurance # to track your package? I could be wrong about that, I just started selling again after over 2 years off.
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If we followed your advice with no DC we would lose alot of money. There's the right and common sense way and then there's the PAYPAL compliance way. If it is an expensive item $250 plus you need Sig Con and insurance to be completely covered as the little insurance form is not online viewable. Under $250 you need DC and could also insure.
Mickey71
<< <i>Does any one know why Ebay/Paypal won't accept the tracking from insurance and insist on DC? >>
Because it's viewable online every step of the way. (DC)
Mickey I assume, was saying the insurance is not viewable because:
The blue insurance form is NOT viewable online by anyone other than the PO.
IMO one needs insurance and electronic signature confirmation to be covered if an item is over 249.99.
Steve