Here is the deal:
There are sellers who state in their ads that they only ship to the US(the way that eBay sets things up these days,even on my auctions it looks like I only ship to the USA).I always ask,unless I miss it,if the seller will ship to Canada. The answer is almost always a yes.
I know that this seller was a club member and I told him that I was also a club member. I think(long time ago now),that I paid with well concealed US cash or...worse case scenario..a money order in US funds). He said that there was no problem selling to me in Canada.
Not once did he mention insurance to me!

You are missing a point here Brian:

The fact that the chips never arrived is not the issue! The issue is how the whole thing went down and how the seller handled the situation!
I went to the convention and when I came home the chips were not here yet. I thought that was strange as other items I had purchased from Vegas at the same time had arrived.I emailed the seller and asked if there was a problem. His email basically said: "Chips were mailed on June 18th". That's it!....that was almost the exact email back. I waited another week and told him that the chips were still not here and his answer was the same...no emotion,no caring...nothing. I asked him what he would do if the chips did not arrive and he said....it can take a month. Fine....again,after another week I emailed him and he said..it hasn't been 5 weeks yet(it was the day before a full 5 weeks) Once again...no emotion or care.
Finally I emailed him yesterday and then out of the blue he lays this insurance thing on me like now it is my fault. THAT IS THE ISSUE!
As for the feedback....yes,I did check them and yes they are old BUT...if you look at how he dealt with those feedbacks,he basically does not take any responsibility at all...he simply says...oops,you did not have insurance...tough. That is unacceptable
Look...defend the guy if you want. But this is the way that it happened and if you wish to defend his policies.....that's fine. BUT...read through the drivel and see what the real issue is.
Here is the link to the auction.
DESPITE this whole thing,you will notice that I still have not left negative feedback. WHY....it is because I respect my fellow club members and that is what I ask of them. I seriously thought that he would come through with the product and end this amicably....looks like it is not going to happen,so I will decide what to do over the next couple of days.