Before and During Shipping
Many of the issues surrounding shipping insurance come to bear either before you actually ship the item in question or while you’re standing at the counter and/or filling out necessary forms (online or not) to ship it. Here are some of the most important.- Pack well for shipment. Any package that’s worth insuring during shipment is worth packing well. This is actually even more true for insured packages, since part of the claim review should anything go wrong will concern the degree to which your packaging was adequate for the rigors of shipping.
- Take a photo of your packaging before you ship. If you have a digital camera and used it to make your item listing, it’s a small additional matter to make a photo of the item once fully packed in the shipment box, with address label showing, to demonstrate the condition of the box or envelope prior to shipment.
- Buy as much insurance as the item is actually worth. Whether your eBay item sold for more than the market value of the item or less than it, insure the item for what it’s worth in retail channels, if such information is available to you. You are unlikely to get more insurance compensation for the item than its current retail value, so there is no point in paying any additional fees that result from higher insurance values; at the same time, even if the item sold for less than its retail value, the retail value is what must likely be spent to replace it.
- Use a trackable shipment method. Both UPS, Federal Express, and DHL all provide tracking numbers for each and every package that they carry. USPS and some others do not, and for these carriers you should take care also to purchase a tracking number (called “delivery confirmation” at USPS) so that you’ll actually know if or when an item gets lost, rather than wondering whether it is still “on the way” while you really ought to be filing an insurance claim.
- Keep all shipping documentation. It is essential that you keep your receipt, tracking number, and insurance number (if applicable for your carrier) on hand until your buyer confirms that they have received the item in question in good condition, since these documents will be needed if you have to make a claim.
Making a Claim
If you have the misfortune of needing to use the coverage provided by the insurance purchased for the shipment in question, any evidence that you have collected about the item as shipped or its value will become important, as will the shipment documents described above.- Take all documentation with you to the shipper’s nearest counter. When making an insurance claim, it’s easiest to work with an actual human. Find the nearest customer counter to you (use the shipper’s website to help you) and carry to it your receipt, tracking number, insurance number (if applicable), photo of the item as-shipped, and any documentation you have about the retail value of the item.
- Be patient. Policies and required documentation varies from carrier to carrier and from location to location (especially across national boundaries), so there is no way to describe here precisely what you might be asked to do at the customer counter of the carrier in question. In some cases, forms and signatures may be required; in others, nothing other than the submission of your documentation. In all cases, be sure that you get a receipt or some other form of evidence that you have placed an insurance claim. It will likely take some time before the shipper is able to rule on your claim, whether that ruling eventually comes in the form of a payment or a claim rejection.
Even if you have a claim go bad or pay less than you’d like, continue to insure your packages whenever possible and to state this as your policy in auction listings. After all, with regard to partial claim payouts, something is better than nothing. And at the same time, mentioning in your auction listings that you insure all packages tends to draw bids from cautious buyers that might otherwise give your auction a pass.
