Horological Meandering

If you’ve shipped a watch recently you probably know that FedEx will not insure the shipment for more than $1000. I haven’t checked recently but I believe UPS has a similar policy.

Putting aside using the US Postal Service, what options are available for occasional shippers to insure a watch shipment?

Thanks in advance for your advice.

I quickly researched it and see it is part of the French postal service.
I'll do more research and thank you for the info.
M4

Fedex, DHL, Japan Post or Yamato for international shipping and always insured content to the full value, it's a fairly common option in my experience and the cost is generally not bad. Only downside, depending on the destination country, get ready for a salty custom import bill!

I'm curious, with FedEx did you specifically identify the contents as a watch? FedEx will insure full value on most shipments but watches are specifically capped at $1000.

You can insure as an option for a fee (like a buck and a half for every 80 bucks up to USD50k or so). It cost me almost 100 bucks in insurance alone but was available as an option. I only used them once, I prefer DHL or JP domestic providers.

I think the last time I used fedex was in the middle of the pandemic so quite a while ago. I know my HTS codes pretty well by now!

I sent by certified mail via US postal service and I could insure it for as much as I wanted. I’m not sure of options for international shipping.

I always ship with DHL Express. They offer full insure for 1% of the insured value. Package is sealed by them in a seal bag, so no discussions on proper packaging either. Note: it's not regular DHL, they're just as (in)competent as all others . DHL Express is their upmarket service. Otherwise you might try a courier service specializing in art.

Have you researched them? They offer coverage separate from FedEx while using FedEx as your shipper. Also, make sure you ship the watch to a FedEx distribution center and have them hold it for the recipient. The recipient will have to sign for it and show a valid id.

an account you have to do it through your business or someone else’s business. They won’t do it for an individual last time I checked years ago. This point just occurred to me. I used to use my business account which had nothing to do with watches.

use parcel pro. You can use fedex or ups directly, but if you add insurance, shipping can get prohibitive. 

It is oriented towards businesses.  

The AD I'm closest to formerly provided insured shipping labels but has discontinued the practice in the past year. Apparently they had some pushback from the insurer.

I don't know what the relevant details are - and what is and what is not relevant.  Are you shipping internationally?  Anything unusual about this shipment?  Speed of service?  And FedEx definitely allows insurance over $1000 domestic and internationally.  They just charge you for it!  They've always been happy to take my money.  Never had a problem getting more insurance.  I generally go to a FedEx store.  The item is usually shipped using an "Express" service but not always the 1 day service, not ground.  And the packaging is usually in a FedEx express box (white box).  I don't know if any of that matters, but it might matter to FedEx.  

I'm talking domestic US shipments and, no, FedEx will not insure watches for more than $1000. FedEx employees have shown me the watch insurance limitation in their operating manual. You are correct that FedEx is happy to sell insurance on other items worth over $1000 but not on watches.

They are just giving FedEx extra money for nothing.

I'm afraid the problem is some store employees do not fully understand their company's policy, and give out inaccurate information. And shippers don't take the time to read the fine print (or they misunderstand it).

I have used them quite a few times and they offer very reasonable rates. 

But it was a a pain and took a while for them to pay out
UPS for the record were not helpful at all I would never use them again- and I doubt I would ship overseas again

Julian

It's more paperwork. But you get insurance from a third party. Yes. This does make it a two step process. I don't want to refer anyone to a specific brand of insurance but there are lots of package insurance third-party insurers.