It is the Sellers or Traders responsibility to insure delivery when mailing packages.

The next few days I will be talking about something most of us are involved with, Mailing Chips & Tokens.

Every once in a while something you mail out never reaches its intended recipient. There are some varying opinions among collectors as to who's responsibility it is to insure delivery

Some will argue that if they have proof of mailing from the post office that they should be relieved of any responsibility.

It is my opinion though that the sender is almost always responsible to make sure that the package arrives with very few exceptions. From what I have heard from others by email and on the chip board this has become the common feeling among "Chippers"

Unless you sell something to someone who specifically requests that it not be insured, it is my belief that the burden of delivery resides with the sender.

What this means is that if you mail out chips or tokens to someone thru a trade or sale, and that package never makes it, it is your responsibility to either offer a refund, or replace the chips.

Now while this doesn’t happen very often, you can be sure that it will eventually happen to you, especially if you mail a lot of stuff. I have personally mailed over 1,000 packages through out the world and have only had a few packages come up missing.

So how can a seller or trader protect himself ? There are a few things you can do.

1) Always insure valuable packages. While I don’t usually spring for insurance on cheaper replaceable items, I will always properly insure packages valued at over $100.

2) try and maker sure you know your trading partner or at least that he or she has a decent reputation. If you watch the Chip Board, those who have problems with continuously loosing chips in the mail are often called out as risks.

3) When selling chips (especially expensive ones), always require that the buyer pay for insurance, unless it is already covered in the price or the purchaser specifically declines it. Thus way you are protected as you did all you could to make sure they were covered.

Much like the Tip #11 from yesterday, if you do Unto others like you would expect them to do onto you, you will go far in this hobby. Its is much better to replace a chip and keep a trading partner for life than it is to do nothing.

Keep your eyes and ears peeled for more Tips of the day coming tomorrow.

Happy chipping to all

Doug