posted on May 24, 2001 05:12:16 PM new
If I am sending an item and the cost of it is under $50.00 I can insure it for $1.10.
Or I can use "signature" delivery confirmation for $1.70. But all this does is have someone at the address sign for it. The one that bought it can still claim they didn't get it. (Especially if it is going to a college or work place and then the one that signed for it isn't recognized.)
Why would I pay 60 cents more for a service, and then might wind up having to pay to replace the item or refund the money anyway?
posted on May 25, 2001 05:12:31 AM new
Okay, let's take this one at a time.
Delivery confirmation is .40 on a priority mail package. It used to be .35, but when they raised the rates it went to .40, so you'd be saving money, not spending more.
Delivery confirmation is not a signature delivery. It's scanned when it leaves your hands and scanned again at the address by the postal carrier. If the person has a PO Box, it's scanned at their post office. If the carrier is a rural carrier, chances are they have no scanner at all and it's still scanned at the post office. If the carrier has a scanner and reads the address wrong, thereby delivering it to the wrong address (unknowingly), they will still scan it and your customer will never see it. I have a new carrier that can't get people matched with addresses. I receive mail from people that live 2 miles awway. I can only imagine where my mail is going.
If the problem is replacing the item or refunding the money, you're better off with the insurance. If you self insure, just put their money aside until you're sure it's been delivered and the customer is happy.
Good luck.
edited to add: If you're thinking of insurance over $50, that may be $1.70, but I think it's more like $1.80 or 1.90 now and you will get a signature. It doesn't have to be the customer, just someone who lives in the house.
[ edited by mtnmama on May 25, 2001 05:14 AM ]
posted on May 25, 2001 08:15:52 AM new
The PO now offers delivery confirmation with a signature (day glow pink labels instead of green) for $1.70.
If you pay $1.70 for this signature DC service, and the buyer says they didn't get it anyway (some one else signed for it)how many of us sellers are comfortable with saying "It made it there, not my problem anymore. "
or how many would replace the item or refund the money?
If you are going to replace or refund, then you are better off paying the $1.10 for the insurance in the first place and not using any del confirmation service.
I guess my question is, how many sellers think signature delivery confirmation is worth the $1.70 cost?
posted on May 25, 2001 09:43:56 AM new
I always charge $4 for priority shipping plus confirmation on lower cost items. On digital cameras, I charge $10 for priority plus signature required confirmation. I tell my buyers that insurance is extra. If they know that someone they trust will be in to accept the package, signature required is the way to go. If no one is in, the PO takes the package back and the customer must pick it up. With regular DC, it can be left at the door. The customer decides what they want and assumes any risk for their decision. In several hundred packages shipped, (and even some in small boxes, sent first class for under $1) the only package that ever got lost was one going to an APO box overseas which was insured. The only reason for DC is so I can prove it was sent and it can be tracked. With insurance, you can't track it and it takes months to get a response from the PO, so except in valuable items going out of the US, I rarely use it.
posted on May 25, 2001 12:38:00 PM new
Just FYI.... I just found out that regular DC on Parcel Post or Media Mail packages now cost 50¢. Priority Mail is 40¢.
Oh, and signature DC is not $1.70 - it is $1.75.
[ edited by ExecutiveGirl on May 25, 2001 12:39 PM ]
posted on May 25, 2001 01:24:53 PM new
I don't have a whole lot of faith in postal insurance. They string you out for a full thirty days before you can file. Use it only on expensive stuff.
posted on May 25, 2001 01:59:03 PM new
Shows you how much I use DC then. I had no idea they offered a signatured one now. I'll have to check with my post office. They normally let me know new things.
Everything that goes out my door that is breakable or irreplaceable is insured. Period. No arguments.
They don't string you along (at least here where I live) for 30 days if it's insured. They string you along if it's not. They can trace an insured priority mail package in 12 days, an insured regular mail package in 21 days and an uninsured item in 30 days.
