Insurance on items posted with Australia Post

[philb264]

I use Australia Post exclusively for deliveries and each tracked parcel I post, automatically has insurance up to the value of $100. I include in most of my listings that we recommend the purchase of insurance should the item exceed that $100. I have spent nearly two hours on chat with eBay and really not achieved anything. It would seem that even though the buyer does not request to opt in for extra insurance at purchase, I as the seller am still responsible for the full value of the item in excess of that $100. The insurance is not cheap; $2.50 domestic and $4.00 international per $100. Do you all just absorb that cost in your post?

[jellybirddesigns]

You cannot tell a buyer to purchase insurance. Insurance is there for YOUR benefit, in the same way that tracking is for YOUR benefit. The buyer doesn't need to purchase insurance as they can easily open a dispute and get all their money back anyway. It is only you who will bear the loss.

I build it incrementally in to my prices, but in all honestly, the majority of sales are under $100, so for the odd one here or there it's not a big deal.

I get big discounts through having a MyPost Business Account on Band 4, which more than makes up for the times when insurance is required as an extra cost. For example, on an overseas parcel to the USA valued under $100, I can easily save around $6.00+ in postage costs, and then the next week if I have an order over $100, it does not affect me to add the proper insurance.

[davewil1964]

Do you all just absorb that cost in your post?

Yes. I have enough margin on over $100 items to be able to absorb the cost of insurance.

As jelly said, insurance is YOUR protection. eBay and consumer law protect the buyer.