If you ship more than 50 packages a year, you should self insure. If you don't, you are paying for the dishonesty of the many postal customers that the USPS has to pay off when they make claims. Remember, insurance is a profitable product to the USPS so they have to charge enough to cover ALL their losses.

You may want to consider a "deductible" in your self insurance. Take the government insurance for shipments worth over $200 or $500 or some other limit, as a protection against a major loss. I lose only 2-3 shpments a year. Definitely not worth the cost of even the minimum 85c insurance on every shipment. If the buyer asks for it and offers to pay, I'll buy the insurance for him, of course. Depending on how well I know the buyer and the kind of area he lives in, I'll occasionally protect myself with insurance. I agree with Chuck Rodgers, the seller has an obligation to get the merchandise safely to the buyer.

DonL