Shipping and insurance, learn from my mistake.

83cj-7

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Dec 26, 2020
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Location
West Virginia
Just something for everybody to consider when shipping items to someone else. Over a month ago I shipped two boxes of bullets to Missouri. I used USPS priority mail and insured the shipment for the amount of the items in the box. Unfortunately this was a mistake because USPS lost the package. I still had to send the items to the recipient that were lost in the mail. That means I’m actually out four boxes of bullets and two shipping charges. Always keep this in mind and consider this when you’re shipping something insured. Make sure you ensure for shipping it twice and twice the amount of the item being shipped.
 
Joined
Nov 5, 2018
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I usually add insurance to any package that will hurt the pocket by $100 or more. Luckily I've never had to use it though.
 

mtwarden

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I'm a bit confused. If USPS covered the loss (that's what the insurance was for right?) you received $ from the buyer and $ from USPS, you could have simply refunded the $ the buyer sent and only been at a loss for the one shipping charge.
 

JLane330

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Apr 21, 2020
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Albuquerque, NM
I don't understand. No doubt it sucks, and I'm thankful I haven't had this issue yet. Doesn't the math work out like this:

Lost package - paid by buyer, including insurance
Replacement package - paid by insurance (minus shipping)

Lesson is, I believe, include the cost of shipping in the insurance amount. Correct?

Edit: mtwarden beat me to it. We were typing at the same time it seems.
 

eddielasvegas

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And if you are going to ship USPS (I know it's the only option for some), look at how expensive insurance is compared to UPS and FEDEX to compare total shipping cost. IIRC, USPS ins. is 4 or 5 times as expensive as the others. Take from that what you'd like.


Eddie
 

eye_zick

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Jan 17, 2020
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Idaho
I'll take a stab at what he's trying to say. hes shipped four boxes, but only got the profits of selling two. details dependent this could makes sense...
 

fngTony

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Just something for everybody to consider when shipping items to someone else. Over a month ago I shipped two boxes of bullets to Missouri. I used USPS priority mail and insured the shipment for the amount of the items in the box. Unfortunately this was a mistake because USPS lost the package. I still had to send the items to the recipient that were lost in the mail. That means I’m actually out four boxes of bullets and two shipping charges. Always keep this in mind and consider this when you’re shipping something insured. Make sure you ensure for shipping it twice and twice the amount of the item being shipped.
Why did you still have to send the items instead of just a refund?
 

Broomd

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Sep 29, 2014
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4,277
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North Idaho
I've never insured anything I've sold here unless that's been requested by the buyer and that's been rare. This includes lots of high end glass.
Collecting on something lost takes an act of god to collect. Been there done that years ago. Waste of time.

Ship as quickly as possible (USPS Priority) and ship very well-packaged and be done with it.
 

pcmem

FNG
Joined
Mar 19, 2021
Messages
13
I've used priority for the tracking so they should be able to identify the last checkpoint. I've had 50% success calling the postmaster general for that location and have them put a trace on it to find it on a truck or shelf where the label was damaged. Might be worth a try unless they've already payed out the insurance to you. Good luck!

Sent using Tapatalk
 

Afhunter1

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Mar 30, 2016
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South Central, PA
This is hard to understand but I think I got it. You are a very stand up guy. Gonna make buyer happy at your cost. Not many would do that so kudos to you. I hope more people would be like this.
 

Missahba

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Oct 6, 2019
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Michigan
I'll take a stab at what he's trying to say. hes shipped four boxes, but only got the profits of selling two. details dependent this could makes sense...
Exactly. Safe to assume he’s not a manufacturer or distributor whose supply might be practically unlimited. He has X boxes to sell and make $Y. Now it takes two to fill one order. He can only profit $Y-$1.
 
OP
83cj-7

83cj-7

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Dec 26, 2020
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Location
West Virginia
I'll take a stab at what he's trying to say. hes shipped four boxes, but only got the profits of selling two. details dependent this could makes sense...

This is hard to understand but I think I got it. You are a very stand up guy. Gonna make buyer happy at your cost. Not many would do that so kudos to you. I hope more people would be like this.
Yes, now I’ve shipped 4 boxes because the person was very unhappy about a refund and wanted the bullets(not ammo). He knew I had more because I had more listed. The truth is that I propbably won’t get the $ back from the post office. It’s a whole lot of hoops to jump through. I have hours into this and I still haven’t got a refund yet.
 
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