Best way to ship a Rolex with insurance?

[skipstar]

Looking for advice on the best way to ship a Rolex from MA to CA, which carrier is best and allows you to insure the watch for full value.
Thank you in advance.

[Calatrava r]

USPS Registered Mail insures up to 50K in the US and is considered the safest way by a lot of people. It just takes forever.

[Wario406]

I’ve had very good success with WWT. Mark is excellent to work with.

https://shipwwt.com/wp-login.php/

[koufax80]

Throw an AirTag in there for good measure. ;)

[MathMasterK]

The old school answer would be USPS Registered Mail with Restricted Delivery, which was already mentioned. As I remember it, USPS requires that the package is sealed along all edges with a special brown tape, it will be stamped by the post office all over the tape edges to detect tampering, the package will spend its time in transit locked up as much as possible, and custody from person to person within the postal system is logged. Restricted delivery requires that only the recipient can sign for the package.

This is the only way I’ve shipped a high-value watch when I’m taking the risk.

However, I’ve received plenty of watches from others via FedEx. I don’t know to what extent those shipments were self-insured though.

[Stan Cooper]

USPS Registered Mail is what Rolex RSCs recommend. It takes about a week to get from California to Long Island City, NY.

[DAGMoney]

Unless you have a business account or third party insurance access, you can't get full value insurance through the usual suspects - UPS, FedEx, etc.

USPS Registered is pricey and slow, but gets it done...

[77T]

Originally Posted by skipstar

Looking for advice on the best way to ship a Rolex from MA to CA, which carrier is best and allows you to insure the watch for full value.

Thank you in advance.

Originally Posted by Calatrava r

USPS Registered Mail insures up to 50K in the US and is considered the safest way by a lot of people. It just takes forever.

How one defines “full value” and Reg. Mail limits of $50K will limit your availability with some PM models.


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[skipstar]

Thanks everyone for your comments and advice

[SolanaWatches]

If you are going to ship watches regularly, then I can only suggest you get an IFS account. They ship using FedEx, but they take care of the insurance. Rough estimate for a $13,000 watch shipped overnight insured at full value from NY to CA is about $75 or less.

Now if you're just going to ship one watch and done, use Secursus. You basically use your own label, and add insurance on top of it using them. Insurance with them for a $13,000 is $130 (+shipping cost). So not cheap but great for one time usage.

[skipstar]

Originally Posted by SolanaWatches

If you are going to ship watches regularly, then I can only suggest you get an IFS account. They ship using FedEx, but they take care of the insurance. Rough estimate for a $13,000 watch shipped overnight insured at full value from NY to CA is about $75 or less.

Now if you're just going to ship one watch and done, use Secursus. You basically use your own label, and add insurance on top of it using them. Insurance with them for a $13,000 is $130 (+shipping cost). So not cheap but great for one time usage.

Thanks for your help

[piratfisk]

Originally Posted by Calatrava r

USPS Registered Mail insures up to 50K in the US and is considered the safest way by a lot of people. It just takes forever.

Can confirm. Have shipped expensive items via this route before (not a watch) & IIRC, the postal clerk said it takes forever because there has to be a signer & witness at every hand-off stage. IDK the correct terminology, I'm not in the postal service. I've also had no issues shipping anything of value via FedEx with their insurance (plus recipient has to sign upon arrival). Alternatively, if it's just within CONUS, you could hop on a cheap flight with only a carry-on & hand deliver it. More expensive? Yes, but this way you will see it throughout your entire journey.

[bluestreak]

The other thing that’s great about registered mail is if there are shenanigans on the recipient side (or in transit) it will be taken seriously and investigated. Postal Inspectors are NO JOKE.

There’s also a clear and documented chain of custody and the items are locked away every night.

I once heard from a postmaster “we don’t lose Registered Mail”

[piratfisk]

Originally Posted by piratfisk

Can confirm. Have shipped expensive items via this route before (not a watch) & IIRC, the postal clerk said it takes forever because there has to be a signer & witness at every hand-off stage. IDK the correct terminology, I'm not in the postal service. I've also had no issues shipping anything of value via FedEx with their insurance (plus recipient has to sign upon arrival). Alternatively, if it's just within CONUS, you could hop on a cheap flight with only a carry-on & hand deliver it. More expensive? Yes, but this way you will see it throughout your entire journey.

Originally Posted by bluestreak

The other thing that’s great about registered mail is if there are shenanigans on the recipient side (or in transit) it will be taken seriously and investigated. Postal Inspectors are NO JOKE.

There’s also a clear and documented chain of custody and the items are locked away every night.

I once heard from a postmaster “we don’t lose Registered Mail”

Ah, this is the phrase I couldn't remember. "Hand-off stage" sounds much less official. Also, IIRC, a USPS Postal Annex cannot do registered mail, just a regular, "full" USPS office.

[brandrea]

Originally Posted by bluestreak

The other thing that’s great about registered mail is if there are shenanigans on the recipient side (or in transit) it will be taken seriously and investigated. Postal Inspectors are NO JOKE.

There’s also a clear and documented chain of custody and the items are locked away every night.

I once heard from a postmaster “we don’t lose Registered Mail”

When you control the mail you control information.




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[samson66]

Registered mail, but beware, it took a watch I sent over 30 days to travel coast-to-coast.