When is Signature Confirmation of value?
TigersFan2
Posts: 1,442 ✭✭
When is Signature Confirmation of value? Above a certain dollar amount? Isn't tracking enough?
When buying coins off Ebay, I've "generally" only encountered Signature Confirmation for higher priced coins (like > $500), but this week I encountered a seller sending me a coin that I paid $110.96. It seems a bit of overkill to place Signature Confirmation on an order of this amount as tracking itself should do enough to satisfy Ebay's proof of delivery for any potential complaint. What Signature Confirmation means to me is (1) not getting my coin the day it was attempted delivered and (2) having to wait until Saturday AM to make a special trip to the post office.
When buying coins off Ebay, I've "generally" only encountered Signature Confirmation for higher priced coins (like > $500), but this week I encountered a seller sending me a coin that I paid $110.96. It seems a bit of overkill to place Signature Confirmation on an order of this amount as tracking itself should do enough to satisfy Ebay's proof of delivery for any potential complaint. What Signature Confirmation means to me is (1) not getting my coin the day it was attempted delivered and (2) having to wait until Saturday AM to make a special trip to the post office.
I love the 3 P's: PB&J, PBR and PCGS.
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More likely is the seller uses private insurance that requires signature confirmation regardless of the value.
Printing labels on eBay for a 3 oz. package, postage costs $2.45.
This includes tracking which meets eBay's Seller Protection requirement.
Signature confirmation costs $2.35 and is required by eBay for $750+
USPS insurance costs $3.35 for $100 - $199.99 value.
His blanket insurance costs less then the $1.00 difference between USPS insurance and Signature confirmation.
I self insure and I use Signature Confirmation sometimes on coins around $500 and up.
In honor of the memory of Cpl. Michael E. Thompson
Seemed like a bit of overkill to me.
Hey, its his money.....
HE>I
I will use it at times, if I am a little leery. I sell 50 year old car parts. Recently, I had an order from ebay of about $280 going to an apartment in New York City.
Not that someone couldn't have a 1965 Mustang and live in an apartment in NYC, but that is not a prime area of sales for me, so I ponied up the extra for a signature. I also sent it FedEx, and the difference in cost from Insured Signature USPS and FedEx signature was small.
On the flip side, most scammers are not looking to scam a 50 year old automobile door.
I prefer signature confirmation so that packages are not left at my doorstep or in my mailbox. A lot of mail is stolen these days, especially out of locations people believe are "secure".
And the seller has no way of knowing that my mailbox is a community lockbox requiring my key for entry.
"Everything is on its way to somewhere. Everything." - George Malley, Phenomenon
http://www.americanlegacycoins.com
The most recent application form for Signature Confirmation service includes a check box for the added service of Restricted Delivery, which means that no one other than the addressee can sign for the article. I have made it a practice of using this added service for items valued at $500+. Do I need to explain why ?
Sadly, even the higher security registered mail doesn't provide this service unless you pay extra for it.
Delivery is Restricted to the person that the Package is delivered to.
Only that person may sign for it, no one else. (If the actual Carrier does his/her job, that is how it works, Theoretically.)
Sig confirm gets a signature, S916 Restricted Delivery gets the delivery to the addressee only, unless you are a famous person, like the pres. of the U.S., or something.
Text
I think it is the green label, certified mail? Not sure. I'm all in for restricted mail delivery.
Pink label is sig confirmed.
If you simply do tracking without signature confirmation, the package can be left anywhere and it will show as being delivered. But you have no way to know where it was delivered or to whom. So a customer can claim THEY never got it. With Signature Confirmation, it can't just be left anywhere; someone has to sign for it and at least you would know who that was if you had t
+1
a few sig tracks do seem to get delivered w/o sig, unfortunately. very small % though.
insur is nice but sig, i sleep better.
will be looking to hugh wood or equivalent here soon.
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Huh. Learn something new everyday.
Sig confirm gets a signature, S916 Restricted Delivery gets the delivery to the addressee only, unless you are a famous person, like the pres. of the U.S., or something.
Text
I think it is the green label, certified mail? Not sure. I'm all in for restricted mail delivery.
Pink label is sig confirmed.
Like I stated earlier in the thread, the newest application form (pink) for Signature Confirmation has an added checkbox for Restricted Delivery service. On the retail side of the extra services menu only(not available online), and costs $7.35. USPS Form 153.
"Everything is on its way to somewhere. Everything." - George Malley, Phenomenon
http://www.americanlegacycoins.com
In December 2014 I sold a gold coin to someone back east for $450. Since it was only a couple of weeks before Christmas, I decided to send it in a small flat rate box and to use signature confirmation to be sure the buyer actually received it.
The tracking all went normally until it showed that it was out for delivery. It then showed something like, "no responsible person to sign" and was returned to the post office. That was the last I ever heard about it.
The buyer said he had gone to the post office twice to inquire about it but they said they did not know where it was. He said he never got it and filed a, "did not receive item" with eBay, who promptly refunded his money from my Pay Pal account.
I don't know what happened. The P.O. could have given it to the buyer and not have him sign for it in the rush, it could have been taken after it was returned to the P.O., who knows.
In hindsight, I paid about $8 for the priority delivery and signature confirmation where it put a target on the package as being something of value sent just before Christmas and left me in the position of not having fulfilled the delivery, whereas, if I had just paid $2.60 for first class postage it would have been considered to have been delivered by Pay Pal/eBay once it reached his house and I would no longer have been responsible for it.
I don't know if signature confirmation has ever saved me or a customer but I know that this time it did cost me.
For lesser priced items signature confirmation is added peace of mind that an item will be put into an adult's hands at the address shipped to. I use it for items costing $400 or more.
For items costing $700 or more I have learned that the more secure registered mail costs no more when you start adding in the insurance costs for non registered items. All registered mail is now insured for the value you declare on the accompanying Form 3806 and the cost starts going up once the insured value exceeds, I believe, somewhere around the $1200 mark. My last registered shipment, valued at $1215, with the automatic insurance coverage and the electronic return reciept cost $22.59 to ship.When using registered mail let you customer know that it "is slower, but the safest way to make sure they get their purchase."
When using registered mail it is cheaper to buy the "electronic return receipt" (can be viewed online with the tracking number and is accepted by both ebay and paypal) than to buy insurance the normal way. In addition, electronic return receipt requires no forms to be filled out, just request and pay for it when you present the registered package at the USPS counter.
Also when shipping registered items less than 13 oz., request first class registered instead of the priority registered. It saves you a few buck and gets there at the same slow pace. Priority registered is strictly for the weight class and has no affect on speeding up delivery time.
My typical statement to the postal clerk is "first class registered, electronic return receipt." If it is to heavy for first class their computer will tell them that it has to go priority.
BONUS INFO: printing "Return Service Requested" under the return address (I use a stamp) will prevent your package from being forwarded to a likely scammer. This replaces the old "do not forward."
"How many times can a man turn his head and pretend he just doesn’t see?” - Bob Dylan
Well if you didn't open a case with the Postal Inspectors Division, you sealed your own fate. There are always a large number of temporary hires to the Postal Service during the holidays, which is when the reports of lost/ stolen material customarily spike during the calendar year.
"Everything is on its way to somewhere. Everything." - George Malley, Phenomenon
http://www.americanlegacycoins.com
"For lesser priced items signature confirmation is added peace of mind that an item will be put into an adult's hands at the address shipped to. I use it for items costing $400 or more."
Whatever gave you the idea that a Signature Confirmation article will be put into an adult's hands ? There is no DMM regulation that mandates a carrier to hand a Sig. Conf. article to an adult. Anyone who is capable of affixing a signature to a carrier's scanner screen is eligible to take possession at the address indicated, unless the sender has opted for the Restricted Delivery service, in which case only the named addressee can sign for and take possession.
"Everything is on its way to somewhere. Everything." - George Malley, Phenomenon
http://www.americanlegacycoins.com
Huh. Learn something new everyday.
Sig confirm gets a signature, S916 Restricted Delivery gets the delivery to the addressee only, unless you are a famous person, like the pres. of the U.S., or something.
Text
I think it is the green label, certified mail? Not sure. I'm all in for restricted mail delivery.
Pink label is sig confirmed.
Like I stated earlier in the thread, the newest application form (pink) for Signature Confirmation has an added checkbox for Restricted Delivery service. On the retail side of the extra services menu only(not available online), and costs $7.35. USPS Form 153.
On June 6, 7:23 p.m. derryb stated:
"For lesser priced items signature confirmation is added peace of mind that an item will be put into an adult's hands at the address shipped to. I use it for items costing $400 or more."
Whatever gave you the idea that a Signature Confirmation article will be put into an adult's hands ? There is no DMM regulation that mandates a carrier to hand a Sig. Conf. article to an adult. Anyone who is capable of affixing a signature to a carrier's scanner screen is eligible to take possession at the address indicated, unless the sender has opted for the Restricted Delivery service, in which case only the named addressee can sign for and take possession.
DMM authorizes carrier to require proof of identity if the person signing foritem is not known by the carrier. When my regular guy is out his fill-ins makes me show identification when I sign for delivery.
"How many times can a man turn his head and pretend he just doesn’t see?” - Bob Dylan
"I don't know if signature confirmation has ever saved me or a customer but I know that this time it did cost me."
Well if you didn't open a case with the Postal Inspectors Division, you sealed your own fate. There are always a large number of temporary hires to the Postal Service during the holidays, which is when the reports of lost/ stolen material customarily spike during the calendar year.
You are correct. But since it was not insured they were only required to pay $25 for the lost package.
This does not preclude a carrier from delivering a package to a minor or someone unknown at the address of the article, without asking for proof of ID. Which is the whole point of the info I provided about the Restricted Delivery option.
I've even experienced a situation where a counter clerk gave a high value package that was addressed to me, to the owner of a different P.O.Box simply because that box owner had presented the mis-placed delivery notice to the clerk who thought nothing of handing the package to a person other than the addressee (me) without asking for proof of ID. That nearly got a branch manager suspended and reprimanded.
I give most carriers a pass for being conscientious in performing their duties, but taking things for granted in the case where they cannot be held accountable by omission doesn't ever end well. YMMV.
"Everything is on its way to somewhere. Everything." - George Malley, Phenomenon
http://www.americanlegacycoins.com
the mail carrier signed and left by the door. I was home each time.
I spoke to a "supervisor" but the same carrier is still on my route.
Expecting 3 more in the next few weeks, we'll see what happens.
Ugh!!!! I made a coin purchase this past weekend for $74.12 including shipping. It was sent "signature confirmation" so now I must go to the post office tomorrow to sign for it and pick it up. $74.12!!!!!!! Paranoia run wild!!!
Super Ugh!!! I made the special trip to the post office to pick up my $74.12 purchase with the signature confirmation. Then I discovered... (1) The seller just threw the PCGS slabs loose in an unpadded cardboard envelope without anything to protect them. (Miraculously, they weren't damaged.) and... (2) They were the wrong coins.
So I initiated the return with Ebay. The seller offered to send me the correct coins when I return the wrong ones. I told the person to just give me a refund as I don't trust his packaging skills to get me the correct ones undamaged. Not worth the trouble. So I'm sending back the wrong coins on his dime for a full refund. I won't name the seller, but this is a bigtime, well-known seller of banknotes with an Ebay rating in 5 digits. You'd think he'd know better about packaging and such.