Latest Registered Mail Vs. Insured Mail Experience
DisneyFan
Posts: 2,505 ✭✭✭✭✭
I made a request of the postal clerk to send $5,000 value by registered mail. The charge was $96.55 for Priority mail which seemed very high and turned out to be the Insurance rate. The Registered mail rate would have only been $46.45! I was given the tracking information and it was delivered in four days! Realizing the postal clerk used the wrong schedule I went to a different post office the next day and sent another package specifically by Registered mail. This was also considered Priority mail and I was given tracking information, The second package is still in limbo and most likely will take a frustrating 10 days to be delivered.
It appears if coins are valued at $5,000 or less they will get there faster by insured mail; but, it will cost more to send them!
Comments
Express mail would have cost less and taken less time.
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Registered Mail is automatically also denoted as Priority Mail if the package is over a certain overall dimension and/or weight. The combination of Registered and Priority still moves at the speed of Registered.
As far as straight Priority Mail getting there faster, well, that is assumed. I also agree that Express Mail might be the way to go, but having private insurance is really where you save funds.
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I had a similar experience. I mailed an expensive coin several years ago and a very helpful postal clerk explained that there's a certain dollar threshold where registered mail is actually cheaper than regular insured mail. I always assumed that registered mail was always more expensive because of the extra handling safeguards but that wasn't always the case. When you mail an expensive package, take the time to get a price quote for both insured and registered postage from the postal clerk and save yourself some money.
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"Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value---zero."----Voltaire
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Never pay priority for registered mail. It doesn't speed it up. Pay the GA rate. Registered travels its own way no matter what level of shipping service.
All comments reflect the opinion of the author, evn when irrefutably accurate.
As @jmlanzaf said, you should go Ground Advantage for Registered as it doesn't affect the service one bit. Some clerks will insist that they can't do GA Registered, but they can, especially if the package is small/light enough to qualify for GA.
I believe the breakeven point is somewhere in the $2-3000 range where registered becomes cheaper but I haven't crunched the numbers.
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Be prepared for potential long delays with Registered mail if your package goes through the N Metro Sort Center in Atlanta. A consignment to Great Collections and an order from Dan Carr both took over two months. It was beyond nerve racking