posted on December 13, 2001 08:03:00 AM
that cd could mean a lot to them,to them itis worth much more than 99 cents,betty garbo,juliet prowse,marlene dietrich insured their legs,to me and you ,what is the big deal,to them IT IS A BIG DEAL.
some folks have disciplines,they insure every purchase irregardless of how much they pay for .
posted on December 13, 2001 08:39:39 AM
STOPWHINING...if the CD is lost in the mail, it's GONE. Paying insurance on a 99-cent item is pure stupidity. Getting your buck back is meaningless if the priceless CD of your favorite artist is lost.
posted on December 13, 2001 11:31:58 AM
I recently insured an old magazine I bought for $10 b/c it was worth a lot more than $10, least I thought so. Maybe the same deal for your buyer or maybe your buyer is an idiot?
posted on December 14, 2001 04:58:25 AMterrydarc: I pick "idiot" in this instance.
Every time I have had a claim at the post office, they would only refund me the purchase price of the item, not the value of the item. I guess no matter how valuable my customer must think his CD is, if it is lost or broken, he is only going to get 99 cents back.
posted on December 14, 2001 05:56:46 AM
I think another reason that people insure low-priced items (and believe me, I've had the postal clerks roll their eyes at me on more than one occasion) is because they feel that insurance might reduce the chance of the item getting lost or damaged in the first place. Not my line of reasoning, but it's the only rationale I can think of (other than the "idiot" explanation) that makes sense.
posted on December 14, 2001 05:57:01 AM
I think another reason that people insure low-priced items (and believe me, I've had the postal clerks roll their eyes at me on more than one occasion) is because they feel that insurance might reduce the chance of the item getting lost or damaged in the first place. Not my line of reasoning, but it's the only rationale I can think of (other than the "idiot" explanation) that makes sense.
posted on December 14, 2001 09:43:06 AM
Insurance reduces the chance of an item getting lost or damaged? Maybe so, though I doubt it. What it DOES do is announce to every postal clerk along the route (and anybody checking mailboxes after deliver) that "here is a valuable item...steal me!"
I use PIC to insure my valuable outgoing packages, and they recommend NOT marking the package as insured just to avoid such unwanted attention. Makes sense to me.
posted on December 14, 2001 10:53:25 AM
some sellers will insure all their packages 50 dollars even though the content is worth a lot less or sold for less.
when package is lost,seller will just file claim asking for that big 50.
this may work before ebay becomes so popular,but now i think usps would want to see some proof like invoice,cancelled check etc.
posted on December 14, 2001 11:24:12 AM
The post office has ALWAYS required proof of value or cost of purchase when making insurance refunds. I don't think the advent of eBay has anything to do with it.
Without evidence of value, you could ship a box of rocks to your cousin in Kalamazoo, claim it was a $500 figurine and was never received, and the post office would say, "sorry...no refund."
I can also see their point about not insuring for over the last provable value. Just because you bought a $10 magazine that you believe is really a collector's item worth $100, you only PAID $10 for it, not $100. And that's what the P.O. will cover you for its loss.
posted on December 14, 2001 12:09:33 PM
"What it DOES do is announce to every postal clerk along the route (and anybody checking mailboxes after deliver) that "here is a valuable item...steal me!"
========================================
Sonsie, I've heard this sort of thing before - marking a package "insured" makes it a target for theft, marking a package "fragile" draws out juvenile elements within the USPS who will use it as a hockey puck, and so on. After shipping hundreds of packages marked "insured, " "fragile, " "do not bend, " etc., I've never had one turn up missing and less than one percent that were damaged in any way. There's always going to be horror stories about the USPS, but I've never had a problem with their service.
posted on December 14, 2001 12:24:45 PM
a few years ago an ebay bidder from singapore sent 60 cash in registered mail,when it arrived at our local post office,it has already been open by someone using a sharp razor blade.
the post office resealed it and delivered the enevelope to me.
my postman told me that it is common knowledge among usps workers that registered mail means something important is inside,something important could be something $$ .
i urged my customer to file insurance as registered mail can be traced from singpaore to a specific city,usa but he did not want to be bothered.
my postman also told me if a postman received more than 3 complaints from the customers on his route of stolen or missing mail,he is automatically canned.
i dont know if this is true,but i think these days most workers would rather keep their jobs than steal registered or insured mail.
posted on December 14, 2001 03:24:29 PM
Without insurance, even if the buyer says otherwise, the seller is STUCK if the item is lost or damaged. The buyer will expect his money back and will neg you if you don't refund. The insurance protects the seller more than it does the buyer, but like a dose of icky medicine, I make the buyer take it anyway because it's for his own good. The insurance also provides a good proof of mailing, one that we have used to defend our credibility a time or two. If the buyer questions whether or not something was shipped, we scan the receipt and attach the pic to the email response. Calms 'em down every time. Safe Harbor also accepts the insurance receipt as proof in case of allegations of fraud.
What I can't understand is given the fees involved, the time one spends to post a listing, and other overhead like a computer, how anyone would sell an item for 99 cents! I can see starting there and having a reserve, but actually selling at 99 cents is bizarre. To each his own, I guess.
Cheers, Joan
posted on December 14, 2001 03:31:20 PM
Many sellers of cd,stamps,coins,mass produced limoge style boxes and others use a mass loading program,is it called mister lister ??so it is not a lot of effort to upload many items ,you just have to watch the meter,every item listed is 30 cents plus listing fee on ebay.
some booksllers sell books at one penny on amzn and half.com,i have heard now half,com revised the listing requirement to be 75 cents minimum.
some sellers claim they can make money selling books at 1 penny ,so i would think someone can sell cd at 99 cents and still make money,say from shipping??
posted on December 16, 2001 08:03:04 AM
You don't make money from shipping. Average cost to list/process an item is really about $3.00 unless your time is worth nothing. Hardcover shipping is reimbursed $2.23 on Half. If the book sells for $.75, you make how much money after Half deducts another 15%? I sell some lowball books, but I avoid the .75 price like the plague.
