Buyer pays shipping and seller pays shipping insurance
I am newer to selling and listed an item where the buyer pays shipping. I added in the description that seller would be responsible for shipping insurance. I may have erred in that regard. After the purchase, is it possible for me to add shipping insurance after the buyer has paid shipping? The post office cannot add shipping insurance after the label has been affixed.
1 comment
inceptions
Mentor3 years agoInsurance protects the seller not the buyer, so there is no need to mention it in your listings. Buyers have eBay's Money Back Guarantee. When you tell them you're buying insurance, they know they are paying for it (no matter how you word it - similar to telling a buyer they get "free" shipping) - it could actually hurt sales.
The buyer pays you for shipping and you use that money to buy your shipping label. When you create your label, you can add insurance at that time...if you want it. However paying for insurance for every package is a waste of money since they are rarely ever lost or incur damage (unless not packaged properly - and if not packaged properly, USPS may not honor the claim anyway).
I would only consider buying insurance for items priced in the hundreds or thousands of dollars. In over 18 years I haven't had the need to file an insurance claim. If I had bought insurance for all the packages I've shipped, I'd have thrown away many thousands of dollars.
It's better to just self-insure. (Stick a dollar in a jar for every package you ship just in case, and in time, you'll be able to use that money to not only cover the rare lost or damaged package, but to also do something meaningful with it.)