Shipping your own posters? Insurance?

[bigmike]

When you guys send your posters to get linenbacked. Do put insurance on it? Vice Versa, when the backer sends it back to you, do you ask them to put insurance on it?

I remember when I was sending a package to the US, the lady at the post office said the insurance can't be more than the declared value. But then I was thinking, how can it have  a declared (value for customs) if its yours anyways.

[holiday]

It has an insurable value which is the value that you place on it, though if you say that a $10 poster is worth $1000 and it's lost, even if it is insured for $1000 they could challenge the valuation.  I always insure for what I think the fair market value of the poster is, or for the purchase price of the poster. 

Regarding customs, I don't know how that works.  Presumably, there is a way to avoid paying any VAT or other tax if it crosses borders, by disclosing that it is yours.  But, someone else with more knowledge will have to answer that one.

[bigmike]

So for example you have a Nightmare on Elm street quad and 1sheet to get backed. What would you put for insurance? Shipping it to the backer and then shipping it back?

[stewart boyle]

So for example you have a Nightmare on Elm street quad and 1sheet to get backed. What would you put for insurance? Shipping it to the backer and then shipping it back?

A Quad and 1 sheet..whew..200 for both posters..then linenbacking costs.. 300?...plus postage to and fro..I would guess $1000 is about right for insurance,,,

Stew

[CSM]

It's a good question Mike.  The insurance is their for your protection and ownership doesn't really matter.

What I wonder about and where ownership certainly does matter is with custom's fees.  For example, if I send a poster I own to the US to get backed should I get hit with custom's fees even for the linenbacking service?  I certainly hope not!  I think Ves posting something about successfully arguing the against the fees in Australia but it took a lot of work...

[guest8]

A Quad and 1 sheet..whew..200 for both posters..then linenbacking costs.. 300?...plus postage to and fro..I would guess $1000 is about right for insurance,,,

Stew

I dont believe that this would work, I am working an insurance claim with the USPS now and they will only pay the value of the item not the value of the item + this + that .. So youd need either a sales receipt for what it cost or some other way to prove its actual value. I had $400 insurance on a print that I sold for $380 and I have to give them the paypal transaction receipt as well as my postage receipt to prove that I bought the insurance. So even though I could have sold the print for $400 I expect I will only get the $380 back because thats what the receipt says.

I would equate this scenario to something like a car.. You buy it and its book value is $XX,XXX .. But you spend $X,XXX adding stuff which does effect the value of the vehicle .. Unless you have receipts of all the work done and can prove it to the insurance company you will only get book value. I got royally screwed by an auto insurance company. I took an older 4 cylinder car and swapped everything out and made it a V6 and got into an accident and they claimed that because I didnt have proof of work, like shop receipts and all that. That they could not give me the value of a V6 model just the I4 model. I was seriously like WTF! IT HAS A V6 ENGINE IN THE CAR!!! But they refused to up the payment. Needless to say I am no longer with that insurance company.

Moral of the story is, Insurance is a scam, and they will do their best to get out of paying if they can! So dont expect them to just accept any number you toss out at them. Even if a poster is worth $200 and you spend another $200 on backing they will most likely say that you can replace it for $200 so that will be all that they will pay.

[paul waines]

I don't know how this works in other countries, But I have been told if sending a poster out of the country for backing, you need to inform the postal service, and get a receipt so you don't incur customs charges on it's return...