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No insurance when shipping outside the US??
 

Hi
What's the best way to insure a package going outside the country? This week stupid USPS lost a package going to Canada (even though i used a padded flat rate envelope they said it doesn't have insurance) and now i have to send a package to Australia and i don't have an option to insure it with USPS just Shipcover, what's your advice??

The item's price is $300

I don't want to use ebay global shipping program because a lot of people don't pay due to their high fees and most of my buyers are outside the US

Re: No insurance when shipping outside the US??
 

to be honest my local post office guy told me insurance outside of the USA is kind of a joke. once the package leaves the border its not their problem anymore.

global express is awesome but super pricey.

in my opinion, pack well and triple wrap. I have shipped 2000 dollar items with no insurance overseas with no problem.

I mean who do you think you are going to file a claim with ? the USPS said once it leaves the country it is on someone else ... and pretty much good luck with that.

I ship overseas alot, most places are pretty legit unless its going somewhere really
crazy

Re: No insurance when shipping outside the US??
 

if someone here has filed a international insurance claim I would love to hear how that turned out.

heck its hard enough to file ones domestically!

Re: No insurance when shipping outside the US??
 

I ship thousands of high dollar items international annually with only 2-3 issues a year. Insurance is a waste of time and annoys your buyer as well because it often causes them more extreme tax liabilities.

Countries to be careful of right now are Russia, Ukraine, Belarus for sure. I am also hesitant with Romania at the moment. I do not ship to many African countries right now either with the absolute exception of South Africa.

Canada and Australia are a breeze. Surprised to hear you had issues.

Re: No insurance when shipping outside the US??
 

If you choose to get insurance for the item or not, make sure you get tracking and ideally signature on delivery.

Re: No insurance when shipping outside the US??
 

This again is a problem with USPS.

yes you can get signature and tracking and insurance etc on the package but its basically a joke.

the only real way to truly have an insured, signed for and track to your door covered item tracking is thru global express.

when you really delve into how the package is routed to a country it pretty much leaves the post offices coverage and moves onto another carrier once it crosses the border.

the post guy explained this really in depth to me one night and basically said you can waste your money on all this extra crap but once it leaves the country its on to someone else. the only way you really are covered is by the global express which is a true to your door tracking.

sure the others show up as delivered but its not the same.

ever since I found this out, I ship as cheap as possible unless the item is over 500 bucks.

I have had no issues and have saved a truckload of money doing this.

if it makes you feel better buy the extra stuff but I dont think its worth it.

Re: No insurance when shipping outside the US??
 

I would also steer clear of Israel. I am 2 out of 2 with issues there.

As far as Australia. I have shipped tons there, and never never never had an issue. I would skip the ins for delivery going to AUS. They seem to have a great postal service, and it is fast getting there.

Anyhow, that is just my 2 cents

Re: No insurance when shipping outside the US??
 

Personally I have a lot of issues with Russia. A lot of items seem to go 'missing' when they get to customs, or take an age to clear customs.

Re: No insurance when shipping outside the US??
 

100% of mine do not arrive to Russia, three years ago it was my second best country to ship to(in my industry). Lost 17k in one month before we knew there was an issue. This goes back to spring of 2012. Since then, 100% are missing(stolen by customs)

Re: No insurance when shipping outside the US??
 

Mine is at 15% of items that go 'missing' which means overall it is still profitable for me to ship to Russia as they are great customers when they get their items. Russian customs is a real issue though, and if the % of 'missing' items increases much more I will have to reconsider shipping to Russia

Re: No insurance when shipping outside the US??
 

That would work for me too! My items going to Russia are all $700-2000.00 and all have very specific marking on the box stating name brands etc... Ii wonder if small items would still make it through with first class international, but very few buyers will pay $25.00 for shipping for a $20-30 item.

Re: No insurance when shipping outside the US??
 

Thanks all of you for your advice!

Today i sent the one going to australia and bought the shipcover ebay insurance, i think it's good to at least get the refund for the value of a lost item.

I'll try to avoid some countries like Russia and just go with the cheapest priority mail service

Re: No insurance when shipping outside the US??
 

For Russia, I make it seasonal to send items.

I prefer to send nothing out of the UK after October.

Seems once Winter is around, there is a breakdown of postal services.

My best, and that was hardly any fun, was 13 weeks for delivery.

Luck was on my side as the item was for a repeat customer.

:smash:

Re: No insurance when shipping outside the US??
 

Russia, Israel, Italy.

Russia - very polite and usually happy to wait a bit longer.
Israel - Impatient, rude and annoying.
Italy - Hit and miss, but mostly I think they know their postal system is a joke.

I send a lot to Australia in the winter (their summer) and rarely have problems, same with USA, seems to get there very quick.

Re: No insurance when shipping outside the US??
 

I keep within 48 states and no PO boxes, sometimes a buyer will ask and than I'll send it to a PO Box, and I ship all priority mail with sig confirmation which ranges from 7.50 - near $11

And I never have any issues anymore, when I started I was shipping everywhere because I had no clue, and it was in December and I was surprised Russia was out bidding everyone and by a big Margin

I found out a month later that I was a sitting duck and every order went "missing" never again

Re: No insurance when shipping outside the US??
 

So true - passing the buck