I don't know how you do it....
mnkevin
Posts: 8 ✭
I just sent in a PSA submission and I almost went nuts waiting for confirmation that they received my cards. I sent in my Rose rookie and a Clemente as a few here suggested and I found a couple Mantles I included in my order. I had heard of some cases where cards disappeared while being shipped and I figured if I shipped them overnight express, maybe that would help ease my concern. I shipped them Wednesday the 11th, and the USPS tracking said they would be delivered on the 12th. The 12th and 13th came and nothing new. The package showed up finally in Arizona and spent a few days there! I did some looking around the USPS site and found I was not in the overnight express area, but they took my money anyhow!! With the added insurance I paid $117.00 to ship. Today I finally got confirmation from PSA that they received my package (only seven days later).
Is this normal to take that long or was I just being paranoid?
Comments
I can tell you that from the receiving end, I've had many packages delayed or rerouted over the past few weeks due to weather extremes throughout the country. It's possible yours was subject to delays because of the USPS backlog.
Insuring collectibles like trading cards via USPS is same as lighting the money on fire and burning to ashes
USPS will never pay a claim for trading cards. I repeat USPS will never ever pay a claim for trading cards!
@mintonlypls can attest to the above. You can even get your US Representative involved and he did, and it wont make a difference! I learned this costly lesson way back in 2002.
Private Collectible Insurance is pretty much the only way you cards are any semblance of insured.
P.S. I am not sure if Fedex and UPS are any better than USPS for actually paying off a claim on trading cards but regardless Private Collectible Insurance I'd bet is still much much better.
It's the singer not the song - Peter Townshend (1972)
Not even a minute do I buy the whole buh buh buh I'm a man-child japery - Me (2025)
BTW recently I sent USPS Registered a bunch of pre-war Baseball Cards and 1920's Non-Sport Cuban Cards to SGC, 1 of the Cuban cards has never been graded by PSA or SGC. I sent them Jan 20, after 12 days tracking simply stopped.
I started Insurance Claim (I use Chubb) end of Feb. On March 10 I receive an email from SGC the cards arrived! After the paramedics revived me I contacted my Insurance Agent to halt the claim. They were in the "cutting the check" phase.
BTW USPS I feel is still infinitely better than Fedex. Fedex the last 10 or so years has succeeded in losing 14 of my shipments! My guess is most of them were stolen by their employees or their contractors.
UPS is same time has lost lost or damaged 2 parcels of mine. USPS has lost zero. USPS may take excessive time but at least for me they have never lost one of mine. Again I'm speaking about roughly the last 10 years
It's the singer not the song - Peter Townshend (1972)
Not even a minute do I buy the whole buh buh buh I'm a man-child japery - Me (2025)
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I might have just gotten lucky, but a few years ago USPS did reimburse me the insured amount of a lost Priority Mail package (insured for $1,000 with a trading card inside it). They asked for the eBay Order Details - which I provided along with the tracking number and insured amount that I purchased. Tracking showed it got as far as "Out for Delivery", but it was never marked as "Delivered" According to the local post office where it was shipped to, the driver swore it was delivered, but they did NOT have a signature to prove it -- and the package was supposed to have Signature Confirmation.
I keep watching for the card to show up on eBay (via TPG Cert#).
yes, you did get lucky. On cards being submitted that would not have been the case.
read this thread folks;
https://forums.collectors.com/discussion/687091/filing-a-7500-insurance-claim-with-usps
My 2002 situation was very similar to Monte's in above thread except substitute Baseball Cards with Graded Comics, and US Representative with my County's DA.
From then on I went with Collectible Insurance first with smaller company's then with Chubb.
Reason is Chubb won't fight a 10-15K payout it's nothing for them. My claims with Chubb I have usually ended up with what I consider 80-85% of the loss and once or twice near 100%
BTW my main hobby is various one-of-a-kind original artwork for Advertising, Comic Book, and other stuff. So the money spent on quality insurance like Chubb keeps me sane.
It's the singer not the song - Peter Townshend (1972)
Not even a minute do I buy the whole buh buh buh I'm a man-child japery - Me (2025)
On cards being submitted, USPS will ask you to prove the value. Difficult to do.
RIDICULOUS! you paid for insurance and they accepted your money. If they lose your package they should simply pay you for the level of insurance you purchased. Maybe there's some "fine print" in the agreement that I am unaware of, but they seem to be basically running an insurance scam.
You may have a chance on any item IF you can prove what you paid for it.......maybe.
As far as a service to use, I have been buying and selling for at least 35 years and the USPS is nearly perfect as far as getting the packages delivered.
The problem with this is that I could insure a package with a $10 card for $500 and hope it got lost. USPS will usually ask for proof of value, like a receipt or an eBay listing.
I agree it is absurd but it's the government after all. On trading cards or collectible you will need more than help from your Congress Representative or County District Attorney you may very well need the Lord himself!
Legally USPS insurance does not qualify as scam but it's reprehensible nonetheless!
To USPS credit however if you ship Registered even if it takes an extra week or month or months it will almost always eventually get to the destination. But don't dont bother with the insurance use the money to get yourself a half decent lunch instead.
As for Fedex they are better with claims but you are screwed when a driver delivers it to the wrong address or take a pic leaving it at doorway then pockets it for themselves - very common in my area.
It's the singer not the song - Peter Townshend (1972)
Not even a minute do I buy the whole buh buh buh I'm a man-child japery - Me (2025)
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I read that thread from 2008 (and somewhere during the thread it jumped all the way to February 2021 - with a mention of something from 2013 mixed in also).
There seems to be mixed results there -- some getting their money after providing proof of value. Some getting partial value of the insured amount. And some writing off the loss and moving on to private insurance.
In my case, they asked me for the eBay listing, value of the card, etc... I gave them that, along with the shipping info, and that the Buyer was reimbursed due to not receiving the card. It took about 3 weeks overall, but they paid me the full amount I had insured for -- $1,000
My biggest question about the thread you provided -- I wonder what the value is today for those cards that were insured for $7,500 back in 2008...
Thank you for your comments - guess I'm not the only one with shipping concerns. I almost used the USPS priority mail small box for shipping, but decided to purchase a 9" square box to ship the cards. I figured if a carrier wanted to grab my cards, they would have a harder time sticking a bigger box in their coat pocket.
If you use USPS use registered and don't bother with their waste of money insurance.
Also dont let the counter person try to convince you to use Priority. Tell them there are legal documents inside and by contract you must send in that manner.
The reason they will try to sell you on Priority is they or they buddy in the back can easily purloin those. registered has a chain of custody and it will be investigated if one goes missing.
It's the singer not the song - Peter Townshend (1972)
Not even a minute do I buy the whole buh buh buh I'm a man-child japery - Me (2025)
So what? They rarely lose anything, they are going to make big bucks either way!
They charge you more $ the higher you insure something for and fail to mention that you will have to prove what it's worth if it's lost. They ask YOU what the value is you want it insured for. Then THEY have to lose it in order for you to file a claim.
Seems to me there's a contract there that doesn't benefit the customer AT ALL. seems like fraud to me as well.
Just an observation. Not sure what I would do if I ever sent something worth thousands of dollars through the mail. CERTAINLY not insure it through the USPS.
This is the best advice.
Really doesn't matter when I submit cards anymore. PSA obliterates me on grades anyway. I could actually Make MORE money if I could insure the cards and then have USPS lose them!