why do people make insurance on items mandatory?

Seller was charging $2.75 for shipping and mandatory insurance $3.00. With this stupid new ebay format that purposely hides the shipping charge until you click on each and every item to find out if shipping is $1.75 or $4.00 it really is a pain.

The item is a $40 item. I will be sure to leave positive feedback but state mandatory feedback is ridiculous.

I've done it before depending on the value of the item.

If something happens in transit, even if insurance is optional, the seller is screwed. Even if the buyer turns down the optional insurance. With it mandatory, the seller is covered no matter what.

I've done it before, but I just make my shipping 2.98 and .01 for insurance.

Insurance is only $1.70 (with USPS) for up to $50, so they're charging you almost double.

eBay doesn't take a fee for shipping or insurance, so it's another way for sellers to keep more money. If they have this option mandatory, I would expect that the card gets a lower bid, and the final total price is still around the total average. So really, there's no harm done. Just a way for the seller to stick it to ebay.

I wouldn't do it myself, but wouldn't mind if somebody did if the final price is the same as if I put that money into just a bid.

Or, they could just want insurance to make sure things are safe for you.

Card Magnet said:

Insurance is only $1.70 (with USPS) for up to $50, so they're charging you almost double.

eBay doesn't take a fee for shipping or insurance, so it's another way for sellers to keep more money. If they have this option mandatory, I would expect that the card gets a lower bid, and the final total price is still around the total average. So really, there's no harm done. Just a way for the seller to stick it to ebay.

I wouldn't do it myself, but wouldn't mind if somebody did if the final price is the same as if I put that money into just a bid.

Or, they could just want insurance to make sure things are safe for you.

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It is $2.30 now for up to $50, they raised the price.....at least that is what I am getting charged. And honestly, the ONLY reason I am not making it mandatory is because of the DSR's because it is the only way to protect against the dreaded "Damaged Item Claim" that so many people are trying to get away with now.


TK

Actually they will charge you, but not actually purchase it, especially if it is a cheap item.
It is just another way to make money off of you.

Ebay is getting worst for the buyer, but it can even be worst for the seller, in the fee department.
It is a no win situation.

As a seller, this kinda burns my ass.

EVERYONE "should" know by now that it's the responsability of the seller, and no one else, to make sure that any item is delivered in a timely, and safe manor. I am so sick of seeing sellers trying to eek out every last cent from buyers by trying to push off any added cost it might take for them to deliver the product. I can understand recouping shiping costs, but pushing off insurance is just too much for me. Insurance only protects the seller, the buyer will get his product or refund reguardless. So then, why charge the buyer for 'seller protection'?

Maybe I'm missing something here, but can anyone give me a clue as to how insurance benefits the buyer at all? Why the buyer should pay for it??

I understand why alot of sellers do it. I actually do it as well on alot of my listings. Through Paypal shipping $50 worth of Insurance is now $1.75 with the latest increase. I also list the majority of my items as Free Shipping as well. So actually, the customer is getting an item shipped & insured for around $1.75. That is a deal compared to the majority of sellers on eBay. My DSR's are all 4.9 or higher as well, so most buyers understand the reasoning as well. Being a Power Seller, the discounts are great, but even bigger with the Free Shipping discounts they are offering.

I actually started to add the insurance because I had a couple packages lost by the USPS. Even though the buyer declined the "optional" insurance and I sent the item via Paypal shipping with delivery confirmation, the seller is still responsible for the item. It's a bad situation for sellers. Even if you follow all the rules set by Paypal & eBay and the USPS loses the package, the seller still is out.

Just my opinion on the situation. Just look at it from the sellers standpoint. Between the fees, the scams buyers are playing and this, it's tough to be a great seller. It's just a way to protect both the seller and buyer in case of a problem.

BTW, I do it to protect myself and my investment, NOT as a profit center. I charge actual cost from the USPS. I look to make money on the card, not shipping & insurance.

Insurance is for the protection of the seller, not the buyer. With Ebay mandating payment through Paypal, and Paypal becoming a lot more buyer-friendly (I actually won a claim the other day, my first in 3 tries), seeming to give money back if they complain about anything, it's easy for buyers to rip sellers off. And in the case something is legitimately lost or damaged, the seller is SOL without insurance.

i have considered doing it but at the cost of insurance. if the card shows up damaged the buyer will be on here bitching about the condition upon arrival. its really the best way to protect yourself against rip off artists and horrible post office techniques. dsr means dick to me since i give free shipping and have a 4.7! that is stupid!

i insure EVERYTHING to protect myself. at $3.50 shipping, I break about even (or used to when insurance was about $1.60 plus cost to mail and DC) If it's $10 or $1000, it's insured.

I've always hated insurance via USPS. I fail to see how it's right for them to say "Pay us extra to make sure we do what you pay us to do".

Of course I know it's needed and whatnot, I just hate that they do that.

As a buyer, if you see the cost upright for shipping and insurance, you already know what you're getting into. The cards don't really go for much more than the usual final value (if at all) in most cases. I don't see how you can complain about those costs then. That's like seeing the "hot coffee" warning label and then whining when you burn your tongue on it.

I have shipped probably 30 packages so far this month....totaling around 2-3K total maybe more.

I just use USPS and delivery confirmation. No problems whatsoever. I actually have not had any issues in years.

The thing that irks me is that this is a GRADED card that the seller is selling......as long as the fool packs the thing correctly wtf do I need insurance for?

I had a few people email me, "can I get insurance on this package?" my response "I personal insure everything I sell you have nothinig to worry about" Maybe that is why my DSRs are through the roof :lol: :lol:

J.O. said:

i insure EVERYTHING to protect myself. at $3.50 shipping, I break about even (or used to when insurance was about $1.60 plus cost to mail and DC) If it's $10 or $1000, it's insured.

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You're actually wasting money by insuring low dollar items. If you pay $1.75 for each $10 card, then you're losing money unless one in every 6 packages is lost. I always use math when I decide whether to insure or not. Take the insurance cost and divide it by the amount you will insure it for. 1.75/10 is 17.5%, so the only way insuring $10 items makes sense is if the USPS loses more than 17.5% of packages. Obviously that's not the case, so in the long run you're losing money.

EricInCT said:

I have shipped probably 30 packages so far this month....totaling around 2-3K total maybe more.

I just use USPS and delivery confirmation. No problems whatsoever. I actually have not had any issues in years.

The thing that irks me is that this is a GRADED card that the seller is selling......as long as the fool packs the thing correctly wtf do I need insurance for?

I had a few people email me, "can I get insurance on this package?" my response "I personal insure everything I sell you have nothinig to worry about" Maybe that is why my DSRs are through the roof :lol: :lol:

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Just wait until "the wrong" buyer comes your way as they've been getting cocky now that they are becoming more & more aware that Ebay & Paypal are on thier side (being that they are the buyer & can basically tell Paypal that thier dog pee'd on the mail before they received it, so it was received "not as described", & PP/Ebay will side with them & cornhole the seller) :lol: .... Once you get a few "ripe" buyer's that leave you with that "not so fresh" feeling, you'll be on here posting about why doesn't Ebay enforce mandatory insurance for all purchase's!!!

I recently won a card and never got it. The buyer had only DC that said it was delivered and Paypal sided with the seller. Didn't have any Insurance on it. So the buyer doesn't ALWAYS win these cases no matter what. I also got 3 other packages on the day in question, so just that one was missing.

EricInCT said:

I have shipped probably 30 packages so far this month....totaling around 2-3K total maybe more.

I just use USPS and delivery confirmation. No problems whatsoever. I actually have not had any issues in years.

The thing that irks me is that this is a GRADED card that the seller is selling......as long as the fool packs the thing correctly wtf do I need insurance for?

I had a few people email me, "can I get insurance on this package?" my response "I personal insure everything I sell you have nothinig to worry about" Maybe that is why my DSRs are through the roof :lol: :lol:

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I just sold a graded card, for 200, and wish I insured it. It is supposed to be going to Illinois but it is in Kansas for some reason. I've sold this person cards before and never had it go through Kansas.

I am going to be SOL if it disappears.


Service Type: First-Class Packages Signature Confirmation

Shipment Activity Location Date & Time
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Processed through Sort KANSAS CITY KS 66106 06/10/09 11:19pm
Facility
Processed through Sort CITY OF INDUSTRY CA 91715 06/08/09 10:24pm
Facility

Electronic Shipping LA VERNE CA 91750 06/05/09 10:39pm
Info Received

factor it in to your bid price and move on.

LLWesMan said:

factor it in to your bid price and move on.

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Spoken like someone who charges mandatory insurance :?

DWright5 said:

I recently won a card and never got it. The buyer had only DC that said it was delivered and Paypal sided with the seller. Didn't have any Insurance on it. So the buyer doesn't ALWAYS win these cases no matter what. I also got 3 other packages on the day in question, so just that one was missing.

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If the DC says it was delivered, maybe one of your neighbors has it.

I always get mail for a lady in an adjacent subdivision with the same house number as mine. I just put them back in the mail with a post-it note attached.

Maybe one of your neighbors has the package. It must have been delivered somewhere.

I make insurance mandatory on high end items for safety. I don't feel safe sending expensive things in the mail without it. If someone doesn't receive a package, they file a claim, and Paypal takes it out of my account immediately.

After a couple of instances, you learn to protect yourself, as a seller, against such things. Mandatory insurance is one way to do this.

It's one thing to file a frivolous Paypal claim against a seller. It's another thing to commit insurance fraud by lying. It raises the stakes for dishonest people looking to steal from sellers.

With sellers like myself that charge actual insurance fees, there is no way that anyone can accuse a seller of making insurance mandatory as a way to make extra money off a sale.

The only one making money in the process is the post office.

Sellers are simply protecting themselves from Paypal claims and stolen or lost mail by charging mandatory insurance fees.

If Paypal favored sellers in disputes as they do buyers, insurance wouldn't have to be mandatory, because buyers would choose to have their packages insured.