I agree with this. I shipped a vintage BMW cross country in ‘02 with a well respected company, but they were the cheaper option (open trailer) despite being warned by other collectors to go closed trailer. It arrived covered in road salt (winter), had been taken on an off the trailer dozens of times (intake completely gummed up), the front valance was scrapped up from hasty on & off multiple times and it had a dent in the front fender with a broken turn indicator (had to file a claim and that took months).
I learned my lesson- 4 years later on another car I went with a very well respected closed trailer company at twice the price- it was pulled on with the PO watching and pulled off with me watching-never touched in between. It had a fine layer of dust and that’s it.
It’s worth paying the extra and using the company that is known for quality work to ensure your precious cargo gets there as if you were transporting it yourself.

 

I agree that you should get the best currier to move the parcel, but you can save significant amounts by buying the insurance from a 3rd party. To me it’s madness that insurance should cost 5%. That is not in line with the risk.

It’s similar to the insurance you buy when renting a car. I used to travel a lot and I bought a yearly car insurance for rental cars from a 3rd part at a fraction of the cost that Avis and Sixt tried to charge every time I rented a car.

 

Many outfits can sell you the insurance, but how do they perform in a total loss situation? That data is slim from my experience. Remember, the goal of an insurance carrier is to deny, deny, deny, and if forced, to settle for as little as possible.

 

I don't know if one insurance provider is more likely to pay out than another. Don't have enough experience or data to make that claim (nor do anyone here, probably)

My point is that you don't nessesarily get a better service if you pay more. Especially in areas where there have historically been very few alternatives.

Another insane example is the GPS that you can rent at the aforementioned car rental companies at about 25% of the cost price of the gadget.

 

Exact? No, it isn’t. $800 buys peace of mind on an $18K purchase. $100 offers only risk and anxiety.

 

Totally agreed, why pay more if you don't have to. But the point I was trying to illustrate above is that I got recommendations from other collectors who did it all the time, and I chose to go with the cheaper alternative and ended up paying for it.
We have members here who ship watches worth 10x more than this for a living, I would listen to them.

 

...which would prove...

 

I wouldn’t ever declare to UPS or FedEx counters that I’m shipping a 5 figure watch. That’s how packages are targeted, it doesn’t matter if it’s insured. Most of the stories that you read about packages being stolen is someone is made aware of the value of the package (such as front desk UPS/FedEx employees)

The best way to go is through a third party insurance where you can print the label at your own home, pack your own box without anyone knowing what’s inside, and simply dropping it off of the store without a word of its contents or value.

 

Do 3rd party insurers charge different rates depending on the shipping company selected?

My personal preference on a very small item valued at $18k would be whatever means has the lowest risk of loss. The risk that the insurance provider doesn't pay up in the event of a loss in transit would be part of my "risk of loss".

Will you also take your $18k watch to the cheapest "service" as well?

 

Do shipping companies not scan packages at any point (x-ray)? Wouldn't a small solid metal item be pretty suspicious and easy to see in an x-ray image?

 

Thats the way to go.

 

Don’t think so, but they have requirements regarding packaging and shipping method, AFAIK

No. Like in this case I wouldn’t use cost as a good indicator of who to use. Do you use the most expensive?

That you should use the most expensive service?

The best approach would be to ask in a relevant forum if anyone had good experiences with shipping high value items... oh wait.

So to answer the OP, I have never had any bad experiences with shipping so I don’t know who to recommend or avoid. It seems Parcelpro is favoured here so if I was to ship a high value watch like this I would probably use that service. if it was me though I would definitely deliver F2F.

 

I just don’t believe the cost is the best indicator of getting the best service in this case.

 

Agreed, which is why I will say no more on this topic and leave room for just those people.

 

I just shipped a $27k watch from the US to Australia for $91...

Then again, the value was only $250

 

I've personally delivered three expensive watches by jumping on a plane and hand delivering the watch. Each trip was less than $1k but in the end was the easiest way to get the job done. I wouldn't do it for a $5k item, but $15k+, hell yes. I've also driven up to 250 miles to do a F2F deal rather than shipping. To me it's all part of the experience of watch collecting. If you are shipping to far distant countries it may not be as feasible, but within Europe or the US personally delivering it is an option that is often overlooked.

 

Don’t need to fully declare to fedex. Because it’s jewelry they’ll only cover up to 1000 even if you paid to declare for more.

FedEx parcelpro or hand deliver is the best at that price...

 

Thanks everyone for the extremely helpful answers.

A few points:

For the last 6 years I've only ever been a buyer of watches - The most expensive being $8k US, this was when I lived in England and to avoid customs duty I was always happy to have under $500 value put on the parcels. I never had an issue and I was buying about 10 watches a year from America.

I now live in Australia and this is the first time having to ship an expensive item, selling on Chrono24 and no one wants to pay more than $100 for shipping.

In reply to the comments about paying more for a better service: Well yes, more often than not you pay for quality, however this does not apply to everything and certainly not always insurance (in my experience)
The bigger the insurance company, the better they are at getting out of paying for damages. Looking at the disclaimers for the $800 cover, it does not cover:

- loss in weight or volume, or wear and tear of the shipment;
- loss, damage or expense caused by delay

along with a long list of other scenarios.

You may be happy to throw more money at something for peace of mind, I would be too, but if you don't think companies became wise to this way of thinking 100 years ago then I have the latest iPhone to sell you
Large companies can afford to experiment with their pricing and will put them as high as they can and only stop when they see it affecting sales. While they raise their price (e.g to ship a package) do you think they are also offering more coverage in case of damage? Of course not.

 

Indeed that's why I asked, thanks for your help!

 

I think this issue speaks to the cliente that has responded to your ad- willing to pay $14k for a watch but nickel and diming over the shipping. You assume all of the risk and they want to specify the terms. Not sure how to get around it other than to find the shipping quote and insurance you are comfortable with and just saying that’s that. Either the buyer can take it or not. I have had this happens on eBay with $200 items and the buyer balks at $15 insured shipping and wants me to fudge customs forms, ship cheapest no insurance- I just tell them the shipping isn’t up to me and if they aren’t happy they can cancel the auction and I’ll relist it. Invariably if they really want it- they pay.