posted on March 11, 2002 11:00:35 AM
1) USPS has an insurance rate for up to $50 of $1.10 and $2 for first $100. Insurance options box begins with first $100. I sell a lot of stuff under $50 and a quarter to a third of buyers want insurance. How do I handle this?
2) My auctions are set up to make insurance optional under $100 and required above $100. Is there any way to do this through the insurance setup? I realize that I can do this and #1 above through the one customizable shipping option, but then I would have to check "I do not offer insurance" in the insurance options which would just confuse the buyer when they try to check out. Any suggestions?
posted on March 11, 2002 11:16:46 AM
Currently, the first "break point" is $100, so you'd have to put $2.00 as the initial amount to guarantee your costs are covered. We realize this doesn't perfectly match USPS, but there are many carriers offering insurance, and most start at $100 for insured-value price points.
As to your second question, there is currently no way to "force" insurance based on the dollar value of the transaction. Either you offer insurance, or you don't; selecting it is currently always the buyer's option.
I'll take your questions as suggestions for improvement, however--we are definitely willing to investigate enhancing the insurance feature; as it stands we believe it does cover the majority of uses, but there's always changes that can be made. I'll make sure your suggestions are considered.
For general information on insurance, go to your global preferences page at https://secure.auctionwatch.com/my/acct/seller_global.html and click the "Learn more" link in the "Insurance" section.
[ edited by bside on Mar 11, 2002 11:17 AM ]
posted on March 11, 2002 11:30:06 AM
While it is correct that most other carriers start at $100 on insurance, the vast majority of shipping is done via USPS, not those other carriers.
Likewise, there is no way I'm letting someone who buys a $500 item from me decide whether they want insurance or not. It won't be long before someone opts for no insurance, then something goes wrong and they want me to make good.
The ability to make insurance optional or required is critical. I raised this issue last week, but no one wanted to respond to it then.
I would be happy with a simple box that allows me to enter the insurance amount and check whether it is optional or required. I realize I would have to edit some items before WBN goes out, but that's preferable to the bind this system puts me in. Calculating the insurance amount, as this system does, is nice, but being able to require it on larger purchases is far more important.
As an alternative until this issue is straightened out, at least make it possible for us to turn off the insurance option altogether. This would allow us to continue including the insurance in the shipping options without having the message "I don't offer insurance" also displayed to the buyer. Without some sort of resolution to this dilemma, I'm going to have to send out my own WBNs, get responses emailed to me and then enter the information in the WBN response myself to make sure insurance is applied. If I have to do that, the value to me of AuctionWatch is considerably diminished.
[ edited by abqsales on Mar 11, 2002 11:50 AM ]
posted on March 11, 2002 12:30:13 PM
The more I read bside's answer, the more dumbfounded I am and the more convinced I am that this feature was designed and approved by people who have never conducted an online auction.
Take a look at some eBay auctions and you'll find a large percentage of sellers require the buyer to pay for insurance, especially on anything over $100, yet the only options offered here are no insurance at all or buyer's option -- exactly opposite of what happens in the real auction world.
As more users catch on to the problem here, the complaints are going to skyrocket.
posted on March 12, 2002 04:57:38 AM
Totally agree with abqsales. This is not a lightweight issue. Sellers are going to have huge problems if we can not customize the insurance options or at LEAST get that $1.10/$50 worth option included. I am NOT about to change my method of delivery to UPS or another carrier just because AW can't figure out how to do the insurance options correctly. I send all of my items through the USPS and I need to be able to offer insurance that gives the buyer what he wants. If I sell a CD for $6-10 I can't expect my buyer to purchase $100 worth of insurance! This needs to be fixed, or as abqsales said, give us the option to turn it off!
posted on March 12, 2002 07:30:06 PM
Right now I am using the custom field for Insured Priority -- which is an adjusted rate that includes insurance, $4 + $1.10.
I do not want to use the new insurance field until the price break is adapted to $50.
Can I be sure that my bidders will not see a message anywhere that says "I do not offer insurance" as this is the box I must currently select? I think that would be confusing.
posted on March 12, 2002 09:57:35 PM
ddeva, as I read the instructions, if you check "I do not offer insurance" that is what the customer will see, and you are right -- it's going to be confusing. As I said, I'm going to have to send my own WBNs and enter the buyer's info myself rather than send them to a site where it says I'm charging them for insurance and that I don't offer it.
