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Best Way to Ship & Insure Small, High Value items?

This is not a post about how best to pack & ship big, heavy amps & speakers & such (lot of great posts on A'gon on that subject). Rather, my question is which shipper is most reliable, & likely to pay an insurance claim, on a high value item, say.......$2,000 to $5,000 (or more). i.e.; how best to ship a relatively small but valuable item that can easily be shipped by air, & the weight & shipping cost is not an issue, & you're not as much worried about shipping damage as it possibly getting lost? I'm guessing, insured USPS priority or express mail? Thanks in advance for any feedback!
steveaudio
golferjw
42 posts
 
United States Post Office via REGISTERED MAIL.
fatparrot
1,314 posts
 
Bigjoe, USPS Registered/Insured is a different creature than other types of insured delivery services offered by the USPS. The most secure way to ship, other than by bonded courier, or if necessary ARMED & bonded courier.
dirtyragamuffin
213 posts
 
AVOID UPS AT ALL COSTS!!!
swampwalker's avatar
swampwalker
5,138 posts
 
USPS is slow to pay off claims, that's for sure. Took me over 6 months with a very patient buyer helping out. But registered mail would get you paid, eventually, if it was lost. As far as liklihood of getting a small high value product to the receipient quickly, Fedex Express would be the way to go. If its an international shipment, I would NOT use USPS, cause then there are two gov'tal agencies to deal with. Just my $0.02.
trelja
3,226 posts
 
ANOTHER vote for USPS Registered Mail!!! In the strongest manner I can recommend it.

As someone who worked for the USPS part time when I was in college, believe me, Registered Mail is akin to the king sending a personal note to someone. It gets a level of urgency and care that must be seen to be believed. At the ridiculously low cost they charge, it is astonishing. And, this from a person who REALLY thinks the Post Office isn't exactly run like clockwork.

The item is isolated in it's own sack, sealed with metal ID tags, gets truly royal treatment, and on, and on, and on. It's tracked on several levels, people handle it like it was their own item. With the regard that if anything happened to it, there would truly be hell to pay.
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