Fed Ex changing their insurance policy and it sucks!

  • Thread starter Thread starter espquade
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espquade

espquade

Well-known member
Just a heads up to all forum members who sell high dollar stuff.

I ship guitars and amps all the time and most are boutique and on the pricier side like alot of people on here .

I went to drop off an Anderson Drop top that a forum member bought and when I told them I needed to insure the guitar for 3300 I was told that they changed their policy from 5000 to 1000 on max coverage for loss and damage I said when did this take effect and was told late Feb. I thought oh damn I don't want to ship it without it being insured and their being a 2300 difference so thought I would try UPS and called them on my way over and was told they will insure it for up to 5000 on loss but cannot guarantee if it was damaged that it would actually be fully covered and that I would need to sign a waiver releasing them from liability.. WTF...

I have reached out to the buyer and trying to figure out the best way to get it to him and may possibly just have to do 2 day air as usually air is much safer with less chance of issues anyway,
maybe I am overthinking this but I really don't feel all that comfortable shipping on these terms and need to figure out what to do on this, but thought I would just give a heads up to anyone who wasn't aware of the new Policy with Fed Ex and UPS doesn't seem much better at all.

I may be giving up selling if these are the terms the shipping companies are now dishing out? The only way around this is to have a 3rd party insure the items and I haven't even looked into that option. yet. This just sucks!
 
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Also I just talked to a buddy at Wildwood who said they get a corporate policy with Fed Ex and their items are all covered against loss and damage no matter the value of the item but as he told me since they ship quite a large amount of guitars/amp etc that they have a set price that they pay on each item for insurance and they usually don't have many issues with claims since they do such a large volume of gear so I guess if your a large volume retailer this doesn't affect you , but for the guys who do this on the side as a way of trying and buying it may not be the best option unless you just like to throw the dice and take your chances ???

I guess this really has me thinking as first the Reverb taxing of used items and now this ... I wonder if it's worth it anymore? I may just not sell much in the future now? Is it even worth the hassle ?:dunno:
 
If you're in good with a local shop you can try checking with them to see if they have a shipping account that allows a higher insurance value and if they'd allow you to use it. If you do enough sales it may be worth it to work out a deal where they can get a small fee for their troubles.
 
Sounds like they are trying to discourage private person to person sales by not offering the same insurance offered to large companies.

Add in the fact they are they are double and triple taxing items upon which the taxes were already paid by the original owners...............

Any you wonder why they keep printing fake fiat currency....................................
 
Reverb offers shipping insurance of some kind. The tax may be worth it. I can't imagine shipping a high dollar guitar or amp without insurance?
 
A lot of shipping company restrictions like this apply to their retail locations but not to their online portals. The downside is you often need to take the package to a bigger hub rather than a convenient UPS or Fedex store.
 
I can vouch for Reverb’s insurance. Shipped a EBMM JP15. Thing walked at the shipping hub—crazy for $2400 guitar to just disappear. Reverb covered the sale no questions asked. All it took was a 10 minute text chat with the rep.

Alternatively, dealing with UPS and Fedex claims for damaged shipments have were a lot more involved.
 
I think my homeowner's covers this kind of stuff, though only with a musical instrument rider. I remember shipping a watch to Germany for repair via USPS and the insurance required was way more than their max. But my homeowner's said they'd cover it. And I've shipped and received plenty of expensive watches via FedEx that were totally insured for way over $5k.
 
I ship using my company account. I was out of work on a day off and went to a local shipping UPS store and was told if they didn’t box it, they won’t cover damage, only loss. So you want me to buy your box, packing and labor just to get damage coverage.
 
mhenson42 said:
I think the FedEx rep was mistaken unless your guitar met the criteria below…

see page 128 of the service guide regarding maximum declared value of $1,000 for certain items… see #12

https://www.fedex.com/content/dam/fedex/us-united-states/services/Service_Guide_2022.pdf
” 12. Guitars and other musical instruments that are more than 20 years old, and
customized or personalized musical instruments”
Click to expand...
Just called Fed Ex and was told by a rep who didn't speak English all that well, but said it was 1000.00 and that was the max coverage and
I mentioned the guitar was only a few years old.
 
changeofaseason said:
I can vouch for Reverb’s insurance. Shipped a EBMM JP15. Thing walked at the shipping hub—crazy for $2400 guitar to just disappear. Reverb covered the sale no questions asked. All it took was a 10 minute text chat with the rep.

Alternatively, dealing with UPS and Fedex claims for damaged shipments have were a lot more involved.
Click to expand...
Well that does make it a bit more attractive not to have to deal with a claim yourself.
 
espquade said:
Just called Fed Ex and was told by a rep who didn't speak English all that well, but said it was 1000.00 and that was the max coverage and
I mentioned the guitar was only a few years old.
Click to expand...

its all laid out in the service guide. That limit only applies to 20 year old instruments or customized/personalImed instruments
 
My last trip to fedex I was told same $1000 limit. I was told the system defaults to the 1000 limit once musical instrument is selected as the item type and system does not allow edit. I told her i was confused as I have shipped guitars for years and never heard this before. Then she showed me the system behavior directly on screen.

I stood to the side of the line and processed a label online where it let me enter the value I desired. Then asked her to print it...
 
I sold a $3500 amp on Reverb recently, and chose Reverb strictly based on their "Reverb Shipping" coverage. It sucks to get hit with their fee and the 1099-k, but once that amp leaves my hands I'm worry-free and that is worth something for sure.

Even so, I agree that all this certainly has me questioning whether the golden age of buying/flipping will continue. Stress eats your health for breakfast and I'm not getting any younger.
 
GOHOINC said:
My last trip to fedex I was told same $1000 limit. I was told the system defaults to the 1000 limit once musical instrument is selected as the item type and system does not allow edit. I told her i was confused as I have shipped guitars for years and never heard this before. Then she showed me the system behavior directly on screen.

I stood to the side of the line and processed a label online where it let me enter the value I desired. Then asked her to print it...
Click to expand...
You can print your own label and declare value, but if you drop it off at a privately owned franchise of FedEx or UPS and not a hub, then legally they aren’t required to cover the claimed value should it get damaged.

Basically what’s happened is mom and pop shops have lost their ass shipping expensive goods and can’t make a profit.

Create labels online and ship your shit through a hub. Problem solved.
 
FedEx damaged the last two packages I sent with them. A brand new amp and a Custom Shop strat. The case was all jacked up.

They paid for the amp damage. Denied the guitar case claim. “Not sufficiently packed”. It was in an actual fender guitar shipping box with extra bubble wrap and padding. I had all the photos. Ridiculous.

I went to use UPS but they only insure up to $1000 unless you use their packing materials and let them pack it. Also stupid.
 
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