Splitting one-of-a-kind item into 2 boxes / shipments. How to handle item value?

[ridgeback65]

Greetings,

I'm going to be attempting to sell a rare vintage pedestal sink from 1955.  It has a bowl and separate base and they are heavy porcelain necessitating the need to ship them in separate boxes.  I'm wondering how to set up the shipping in eBay's shipping app.   First, how to split the shipment and 2nd, how to insure it overall so that if one item is lost, it's considered a total loss.  For example, let's say hypothetically the bowl arrives intact but the base is damaged in shipping.  Because the 2 items are integral to each other, the bowl is useless without the base.  I can't replace a 70 year-old damaged base.  

Do I value *each box at the overall $500 value?  Or will eBay even let me do that because it will "sense" that I'm trying to "double" the value?  My concern is that if there is a loss, I will be out 1/2 the money.

Am I obligated to use eBay's shipping method every time?  Perhaps I take this more complex sale to a UPS store to set this up?

Suggestions?

[ridgeback65]

In the mean time, I did get thru to an eBay rep and also to a UPS supervisor with my questions and, unfortunately, contradictory information.

On the one hand, the eBay rep assured me that even if I "split" the shipment into to 2 boxes and insured "the overall" for the hypothetical final $500 value, if one box is lost or damaged it would be considered a *total* loss for $500.  However, the UPS supervisor given the same hypothetical said I needed to value *each* box at $500 ($1000 total) as if only one item was lost it would be 1/2 the overall value.  ???

[stainlessenginecovers]

You will not be covered should the item arrive 'broken' as the carrier will just point to 'poor packing'.

You can simply 'print another label' and you will have 2 tracking numbers. You can also insure each (for loss only) when buying/printing the label. The overall insurance cannot exceed the price of the item. 

[ridgeback65]

So in your experience / opinion, shippers never pay out for damage as *nothing* is ever well-packed enough in their mind?

[mtgraves7984]

I'm going to be attempting to sell a rare vintage pedestal sink from 1955.

@ridgeback65 

^^^ I barely got past your first sentence. Honestly, I don't think I'd sell this on eBay. Sorry... just sounds bad from the get-go.

[ridgeback65]

Haha.  Yeah I'm beginning to think that...

[rfmtm]

I agree that this should be for pick up only.  Properly packing this item, would likely make the package oversized and very expensive to ship.  

You have nothing to lose starting out as pick up only.

[wastingtime101]

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@ridgeback65 wrote:

Do I value *each box at the overall $500 value?  Or will eBay even let me do that because it will "sense" that I'm trying to "double" the value?  My concern is that if there is a loss, I will be out 1/2 the money.

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Most likely you'd be out the entire sum of money. Buyer could file claim on the damaged portion, then file a not as described claim on the undamaged portion because it's useless without the other half. You'd also be out shipping costs.

List with local pickup and consider reaching out directly to local contractors or interior designers to see if they have interest.

[wastingtime101]

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@wastingtime101 wrote:

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Most likely you'd be out the entire sum of money. Buyer could file claim on the damaged portion, then file a not as described claim on the undamaged portion because it's useless without the other half. You'd also be out shipping costs.

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My above statement is incorrect. It would be one single claim because it's one sale of a single item, regardless of splitting it for shipping.

[ridgeback65]

Good suggestion on contacting local designers!

[ridgeback65]

Thank you.

[rfmtm]

Yes it is one single claim, but you still need to insure each box for the full value.  

Still I am not sure how any particular carrier would handle this.  Suppose the order consisted of two same weight same size items each shipped in the same size box.  One is worth $490  and the other only $10.   Would the carrier still pay out the $500., even if only the $10 item was lost?

[cherry-pickers-shop]

I know this is a late reply, but consider it a tip for a future order... If you're shipping / insuring anything fragile, always use FedEx...  Not UPS or USPS. 

The reason for this is because both UPS and USPS outsource their insurance coverage to other companies and it can be very difficult to get them to honor the coverage.

FedEx on the other hand has their own inhouse insurance. So far they've paid a damage claim every time. 

... Just my personal experience. ✌️