One of the biggest considerations when shipping jewelry is the type of insurance and/or liability coverage included with your shipment. Carriers like USPS provide insurance while UPS and FedEx have liability insurance with declared value options. What other coverage is out there? We’ll cover your options, including ShippingEasy’s additional declared value amounts and insurance options, so you can keep your jewelry safe and sound!
Table of Contents
- Shipping Jewelry with USPS
- Shipping Jewelry with UPS
- Shipping Jewelry with FedEx
- Shipsurance
- Tips for Shipping Jewelry
Shipping jewelry with USPS
USPS doesn’t explicitly state their limitations on shipping jewelry, so we recommend reaching out to them directly for more information. However, some USPS services do automatically include certain amounts of insurance, usually up to $100-$200.
Insurance with USPS
Only specific USPS services have built-in insurance options, including Priority Mail and Priority Mail Express. ShippingEasy users have access to Commercial rates, so Priority Mail and Priority Mail Express shipments are eligible for up to $100 in USPS insurance. This amount varies with international shipments and whether valuable jewelry or documents are being shipped. We’ve included a table below to show the options available for some of the most utilized USPS carrier services.
Learn more about Commercial rates in our Commercial Shipping Simplified with ShippingEasy blog!
Note: As of July 9, 2023, Retail Ground, Parcel Select, and domestic First-Class Package Service will be combined into USPS Ground Advantage™. Visit our blog for more information!
Shipping jewelry with UPS
UPS has restrictions on which types of jewelry they’ll accept. Gold jewelry and precious gemstones/metals can’t be shipped through their services without a contract with UPS. For more information on these restrictions, we recommend reaching out to UPS directly.
UPS Declared Value
UPS Declared Value is a liability coverage service for products where UPS will potentially pay the cost of a lost or damaged item. UPS includes up to $100 in declared value for all shipments, but we have good news! ShippingEasy gives users the ability to add more than $100 of declared value on the Ready to Ship page or Orders page, so you can increase the amount of liability coverage on your shipment as needed.
This is an example of adding UPS Declared Value on the Orders page.
With the UPS account included with your ShippingEasy account, you can only include up to $100 of declared value on their shipments and must use Shipsurance for additional insurance options. ShippingEasy does have a UPS integration available for users, so your personal UPS account can be connected for additional declared value amounts*.
*UPS surcharges may apply to declared value amounts over $100
We’ve added a table below to break down UPS declared value and other options for insurance.
Shipping jewelry with FedEx
If your business plans to ship jewelry regularly, FedEx does offer a Jewelry Shipping Program for some account holders. FedEx doesn’t offer much information on their jewelry shipping limitations, so we recommend reaching out to them directly for more information on restrictions and their Jewelry Shipping Program.
FedEx Declared Value
Much like UPS, FedEx offers a declared value service for shipments up to $100. ShippingEasy users do have the option to add more declared value to their shipments for an additional FedEx surcharge.
Learn more about The Cheapest Shipping Options with USPS, UPS, and FedEx with our blog!
Shipsurance
ShippingEasy partners with a third-party insurance provider called Shipsurance to give users more insurance options for their valuable shipments. The cost of Shipsurance varies depending on the amount of insurance being purchased, and the amount of Shipsurance available to each shipment depends on the carrier and/or service being used. For example, a First Class package is only eligible for $999.99 worth of Shipsurance while a Priority Mail shipment is eligible for up to $10,000. We’ve included a table below showing how these fees are calculated.
Tips for Shipping Jewelry
- Don’t label the package as containing jewelry or anything valuable.
- Use packaging like cotton and jewelry boxes to avoid any of your jewelry getting lost or damaged.
- Wrap jewelry boxes in bubble wrap to keep them securely closed.
- Add additional insurance where available.
- Require signature confirmation for higher-item jewelry.
- Including images of products on your packaging can void insurance, so reach out to your carrier and/or insurance provider directly to confirm your packaging is covered.
Conclusion
Shipping valuables like jewelry does mean finding which insurance options work best for your packages. USPS shipments include insurance coverage for services like Priority Mail and Priority Mail Express while UPS and FedEx provide liability coverage with declared value options up to $100. ShippingEasy’s partnership with Shipsurance gives you more insurance options to ease your mind when shipping valuable items, and ShippingEasy’s carrier integrations help you add more declared value to UPS and FedEx shipments to increase your liability coverage.
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Baillee Perkins
