Perhaps your mail carrier is also a collector. I am very, very surprised that you have 5 losses at all, let alone 5 this year. In the two years I've been doing this (e-bay purchases, trades, Round Robins, etc.) only one time has a sender's chip not arrived.

My only suggestion is to incorporate insurance into the higher value chips as part of the winning bid price. HOWEVER, if you really have lost 5 pieces of mail since January, I strongly recommend that you make a formal complaint to the Post Master.

For the one item that I did not receive (a current $1 chip) the sender did send another one. I offered postage, but it was declined.

I'm sure you will hear from others with more experience. God luck.

JDF