Subject:
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Re: USPS Insurance
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.market.shipping
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Date:
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Wed, 22 Sep 1999 13:21:59 GMT
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Viewed:
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628 times
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Rob Doucette wrote:
>
> Most sellers (myself included) offer insurance as an option at the buyers'
> risk. Most sets are sold at above retail (in the case of discontinued, or
> otherwise hard to find sets). But how does the buyer actually excercise the
> insurance that they purchased when the seller holds the proof of insurance
> and value can't be proven easily??
>
> I recently had a sale arrive at the buyer opened, minus the LEGO (it was a
> USPS Priority Mail carton and was stamped damaged by the receiving postal
> office). The buyer was not able to process the claim because he couldn't
> provide proof of value. E-mail documentation of the sale was deemed
> insufficient by the Post Office. Because the transaction was relatively
> small (~25$) I replaced and substituted the sets in exchange for the damaged
> carton and documentation so I can process the claim myself. The question
> now is how do I recover the value of the sale as opposed to the retail cost
> of the LEGO??
>
> I'm thinking that optional insurance for buyers is no insurance at all...
I've always wondered at how good the insurance actually is... One thing
this does point out though - ALWAYS make sure there is a card with
addresses inside the bag of pieces (you do put loose pieces in a bag
don't you). When shipping boxes, I usually either tape an address card
to the box (if it's got a flip lid) or put the box in a bag, with an
address label secured.
Chances are in this case that the box failed, the LEGO sets fell out on
the floor, and the postal clerks couldn't determine which package they
belonged to.
As for making the claim, if the sets are ones which regularly sell on
eBay, bring along printouts of all the available auctions (including
in-progress ones if they are near the price your auction got). This
should improve the chances.
One caution though, the USPS insurance may not cover "collectible"
value.
If you are selling a lot of stuff through auctions, it may be worth
checking out some business insurance, or self insure by adding a
handling charge (if you indicate that your handling charge includes a
buck or so for insurance, I doubt many people would complain).
--
Frank Filz
-----------------------------
Work: mailto:ffilz@us.ibm.com (business only please)
Home: mailto:ffilz@mindspring.com
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Message is in Reply To:
 | | USPS Insurance
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| Most sellers (myself included) offer insurance as an option at the buyers' risk. Most sets are sold at above retail (in the case of discontinued, or otherwise hard to find sets). But how does the buyer actually excercise the insurance that they (...) (25 years ago, 22-Sep-99, to lugnet.market.shipping)
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