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Courier with insurance for PM


Big23

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Hi Folks,

as it came up on every trade I made here on TSF: does anybody know an affordable delivery service that allows and insures PM sendings within Europe (from UK)?

It would be nice to know one or two, otherwise dealing with PM is a little bit risky :-/

Thanks and BR

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@Big23 Moved to discussion area.

I don't think there is anything affordable from UK to EU.  UPS may insure but I can't find their inclusion/exclusion list.  Their insurance is 1% of market value but I can't confirm if PMs are included or not.  If anyone finds their exclusion list, let us know.

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Hi @Big23 

We have already discussed this topic comprehensively by Private Message as you were interested in the items I had for sale but we couldn't be sure if we could insure it.   I think @morezone kind of sums this topic up.   Like us, he found very little information provided by couriers/ postal providers in terms of them hiding or not explicitly publicising inclusion/exclusion & terms and conditions, or at least keeping them well out of sight.  

The sad thing is that even domestically posting items (not necessarily Gold or Silver) the question is always  'whats the value' and 'whats inside'.  As soon as you tell them that there is something intrinsically valuable inside,  the counter assistant will almost always suggest upgrading to Special Delivery particularly valuable items such as Bullion, Jewellery, Passports so on and so forth.  

Its funny, I once posted a very expensive medical text book and the counter assistant was aghast that I didn't send it second class 'because its only a book'.  Thank the lord it got to its destination without a hitch as it was worth as much as a Sovereign! and I'm pretty sure it would have taken a lot of effort to provide proof and be compensated for a £250 book!  I also remember around 5 or 10 years ago mailing around 8 parcels from one Post Office and three going missing, the computer components inside were reasonably valuable, but my compensation claim was not paid.    

For me, the very fact that someone turns out in the wet and cold, queues for ages at the counter and then hands over their hard earned money to post something means it has a value and needs handling with care and attention.  I would suggest, that what the Post office/couriers are saying to us at the counter is this:  'unless you upgrade to Special Delivery/premium service, or you have thoroughly checked out our terms and conditions, you are crossing your fingers because there's every chance it wont get to its destination', leaving you feeling anxious and disgruntled.  If you pay the premium you feel ripped off but also wondering 'if it does get lost, will I be compensated?'   You feel obliged to take out and pay for a premium service when really, any service bought, be it 2nd class, 1st class, economy, etc.  should get the item to its destination without a hitch.

Postage can become a deal breaker when buying or selling items at a distance on eBay, this Forum , retailers etc. And we can be extremely unkind to each other when negotiating a deal sometimes, as often the start point is how little the postage can be made by the seller.   And the process of sending items can be extremely anxiety provoking for both the seller and buyer alike.  Personally, I have a rule of thumb, could I afford to lose this item? Can it be replaced easily?  If the answers no, then its Special Delivery, but would I be compensated if its Bullion in the package?  I'm still searching for the definitive answer. 

  

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@morezone thank you for moving to the correct forum!

UPS says: Must not contain... gold and silver :(

https://www.ups.com/assets/resources/media/en_GB/terms_carriage_eur.pdf

@richatthecroft yeah I'm asking because of your items, too.

I already bought 2 coins here on TSF with tracked and signed for and both were delivered to my neighbor without signature... Luckily it's my brother and not someone I have problems with...

I recently bought something from gs.be and they deliver for free and insured?! So there have to be couriers that allow PMs to be sent and insure them. If it's around 30£ for a small package I would pay it without problem.

 

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It is very difficult shipping UK to Europe with insurance. I have always found Fedex service very good but they only insure to a max of $1000 ( £725 ). I recently asked for a quote UK to France using Fedex int economy and they came back with around £60 which i thought was far too expensive for the cover received. Luckily for me i work as a pilot so got a cheap flight and took it myself and had a nice day in Paris :)

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13 minutes ago, Fivepoundfred said:

 I recently asked for a quote UK to France using Fedex int economy and they came back with around £60 which i thought was far too expensive for the cover received. Luckily for me i work as a pilot so got a cheap flight and took it myself and had a nice day in Paris :)

And thats how it's done.... :lol:

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