About the mail and stolen knives?

[freewheeling]

Just getting ready to mail the #600 to my brother and got to thinking about insurance and stolen knives. I wonder how many of the stolen knives were highly insured, and this tipped off the thieves that these were valuable gets? Were these situations mostly USPS, or do they include other shippers? Maybe stealth (uninsured) is a better way to go if you're going to use the mail?

Update: Probably not, come to think of it. But do some shippers have better security for this kind of thing, and a better record?

 

[TotalDbag]

Just getting ready to mail the #600 to my brother and got to thinking about insurance and stolen knives. I wonder how many of the stolen knives were highly insured, and this tipped off the thieves that these were valuable gets? Were these situations mostly USPS, or do they include other shippers? Maybe stealth (uninsured) is a better way to go if you're going to use the mail?

Update: Probably not, come to think of it. But do some shippers have better security for this kind of thing, and a better record?

I just shipped mine to Mario (sticktodrum) and it made it there fine.
And I insured it for $400.

 

[Ernie1980]

I think the rates of theft by mail carriers is extremely low and not something to worry about. Plus, if you insure it you are covered anyways. I have mailed at least 100 knives over the course of my collecting years and have never had any sort of theft problem WITHIN THE US. ( Now on wood)Outside of, yes. Mail it domestically and you should be just fine.

 

[RevDevil]

Just getting ready to mail the #600 to my brother and got to thinking about insurance and stolen knives. I wonder how many of the stolen knives were highly insured, and this tipped off the thieves that these were valuable gets? Were these situations mostly USPS, or do they include other shippers? Maybe stealth (uninsured) is a better way to go if you're going to use the mail?

Update: Probably not, come to think of it. But do some shippers have better security for this kind of thing, and a better record?

Send your item with signature confirmation and put your worries to rest.

 

[Esav Benyamin]

From the stickies in the FEEDBACK forum, where I moved this thread:

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/993398-Registered-Insured-Mail
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/744662-***-Mailing-Security
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/934583-the-same-mistakes-are-made-over-amp-over

 

[dericdesmond]

Print your label, check the "do not display postage price" box and all they can see is that its in a box and insured. They have no clue the amount nor would they even if not printed online unless they know your postage price and do the math on the price diff to see how much insurance you added.

eta-if you print your label online and insure it for $201+, it will say Insured signature tracking under the barcode which would indicate its bare min value so that kinda sucks if trying to be completely stealth about it. ALSO just in case readers were not aware, if you get sig confirm and insure for over $201 you are wasting $ on the sig confirm as it will already require a sig with $201+ insure but they will unlikely tell you that$$$. Blah, cheers
E

 

[flatblackcapo]

I wondered the same thing. I ship a lot of knives and always tape the heck out of the box pay for the insurance and signature confirmation. I have had clerks ask if I would like to add signature confirmation when the insurance was set at 400. When I asked "doesn't anything insured for 300 or more have to be signed for?"the clerk just said "oh yeah" I wanted to tear into the clerk but I figure they are in control of my package now so I just smiled and left.

 

[dericdesmond]

"doesn't anything insured for 300 or more have to be signed for?".

The exact figure is $201 & higher (blue slip), $200 and less gets the black slip and requires no sig. Whenver im close to $200 I ask for $201 of Insurance and get a sig out of the deal :thumbup:

 

[freewheeling]

Thanks. I sometimes want statistics on this sort of thing rather than anecdotes, but I suppose that the insurance rates are based on actuarial statistics so reinventing that wheel is unnecessary, plus it covers me for other stuff besides theft. I noticed that if you buy the label/postage online you can save a little bit over the P.O. price. I saved about $0.65 .

 

[Omega Leather Works]

I insure (usps) over the cost of the knife. The last few times I shipped with insurance at $500 even though the knives were worth a tad less (brand new). That way if it does get swiped they'll be buying me a new knife AND covering shipping on it. In the case of the Sebenzas they'd be buying me some lube or a sheath for my trouble as well.

For the few extra bucks it costs I almost HOPE that they lose it!

If it were a rare/one of a kind knife I'd probably ship UPS or FedEx.

 

[Bufford]

On top of shipping with insurance I have made a few one of a kind knives and had them shipped out using registered mail as an added layer of protection.

 

[dericdesmond]

Registered mail is indeed the most secure method of shipment. Slower but more secure. Also If what you are shipping needs LOTS of insurance you can often times save $ shipping it registered opposed to priority insured.

 

[g.money7]

Anytime I ship, I get insurance for the full pay price of the knife plus my paypal fees if needed. Its a small price to pay for peace of mind, and I only use USPS. I know they can be a bit slow sometimes, but to me they have been the safest (at least by what Ive read and seen) and the most reliable way of shipping anything.

 

[choombak]

Registered mail is indeed the most secure method of shipment. Slower but more secure. Also If what you are shipping needs LOTS of insurance you can often times save $ shipping it registered opposed to priority insured.

I doubt this - registered is $12.95 and even if you do first class, it will be another $2 or 3. So $15 with registered minimum is required for one package. As opposed, insurance over $200 is $5.10, so you can send an insured package under $10. Or did I misunderstand something?

 

[g.money7]

I doubt this - registered is $12.95 and even if you do first class, it will be another $2 or 3. So $15 with registered minimum is required for one package. As opposed, insurance over $200 is $5.10, so you can send an insured package under $10. Or did I misunderstand something?

I believe what he is saying is that it's the most secure. Cost wise it's about the same. However with registered, the package is locked up and scanned at each and every facility it's passed thru. My local postmaster told me this is how most high dollar items are shipped. It has limited handling which keeps any possible employee thefts at a minimum and is locked up all the time. Bad thing is it doesn't always get delivered on the date that is quoted.

 

[dericdesmond]

I doubt this - registered is $12.95 and even if you do first class, it will be another $2 or 3. So $15 with registered minimum is required for one package. As opposed, insurance over $200 is $5.10, so you can send an insured package under $10. Or did I misunderstand something?

If you are insuring in the thousands, say 3-5k registered can save you a little $$ is all. Eta- dont quote me but I think up to 5k may be included so the $12.95 would be significantly less then 5k worth of regular insurance. If Im mistaken then there is something in there that makes high valued items cheaper to ship registered then regular insured, just cant recall to a T.

 

[choombak]

If you are insuring in the thousands, say 3-5k registered can save you a little $$ is all. Eta- dont quote me but I think up to 5k may be included so the $12.95 would be significantly less then 5k worth of regular insurance. If Im mistaken then there is something in there that makes high valued items cheaper to ship registered then regular insured, just cant recall to a T.

Ah! Got you. Registered is indeed secure and slow - priority within US takes about 8 days instead of the normal 2-3. However, unless the postal employee is crazy, he/she won't mess with any registered article for it is "hot stuff" - essentially a federal offence and loss of job (courtesy supermod Esav).

 

[Lone_Wolfe]

If you're insuring for a high amount, you're better off using express mail. It gets there quicker, and the overall price can be less, because the insurance costs less.

 

[dericdesmond]

If you're insuring for a high amount, you're better off using express mail. It gets there quicker, and the overall price can be less, because the insurance costs less.

Quicker yes, however slightly less secure and im pretty sure it will cost cost more which was the main point made.

For around $35 u can register and insure for 5k and stick it in a medium flat rate box. Express without insurance in a same sized box is gonna cost more then That without Insurance.

Also express can only be insured up to 5k wheras reg can go to 25k

 

[Lone_Wolfe]

Quicker yes, however slightly less secure and im pretty sure it will cost cost more which was the main point made.

For around $35 u can register and insure for 5k and stick it in a medium flat rate box. Express without insurance in a same sized box is gonna cost more then That without Insurance.

Also express can only be insured up to 5k wheras reg can go to 25k
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I was comparing the cost and security to using Priority. If you need to insure for more than a couple thousand, up to $5k, Express is cheaper. I use the Express flat rate box when I need to send several knives at once.