I have become very familiar with the listing process on Auctiva, and am now ready to tackle Checkout and Insurance, but I would like some feedback from other members. I have read most of the posts, but I am still VERY confused about the insurance issue. If I want to require insurance on all of my auctions, and I want to use Auctiva insurance, what do I do? And also, I would love to hear from someone who has actually used the insurance CLAIM process. Did you have good luck, was your customer happy, did you encounter any problems, etc. I want to be very well informed before I take this step. I have 100% Ebay feedback with 1000+ transactions, and don't want to endanger that over an insurance screw-up. Would appreciate any comments, editorials, etc. Thanks.

I have been using the shipping insurance for some time now.I have not had a claim but I have had a lot of customers confused because when you ship through Paypal you do not buy the shipping insurance through there so it does not show up on the shipping label and customers think you sent with no insurance. I would also like someone who has had a claim let us know how the process works. Thanks and I use Auctiva daily and love it.

Thanks, my understanding is that there is a link where you can send an email to your customer to let them know that you have purchased insurance and that their package is insured. My first impression is that this is a confusing process for all concerned, buyer AND seller, in spite of the savings involved. I still am very interested in hearing from someone who had to file a claim. To me, that is the proof in the pudding.

First I want to say that I think Auctiva is an excellant service. I say that because I don't want anyone to get the wrong idea about what I am going to say. I have been using Auctiva insurance for some time. But I have encountered a couple of problems I think deter anyone from using this option. The first one is, if you offer options to your buyer for shipping services, it is possible that your buyer will be overcharged for insurance. An example is if the buyer selects UPS, and the total payment is under $100, the buyer usually gets charged $2.30 for insurance when it is included in the shipping charge. So I have had to give several refunds on this account. The second problem is the really big problem. I had a buyer who purchased a 40pc dish set and when it arrived it had 3 pieces broken. I found out at that time that U-pic is the insurance carrier. Not only was the insurance claim difficult to submitt, but they ended up requireing the buyer to send pictures of the damage. The buyer was new to the internet, did not have a digital camera, and was confused why there was so much fuss for a $5 claim. It took 4 months to get this claim worked out. One last important thing to remember is if you use UPS for shipping and purchase Auctiva Insurance, you still have to file the claim with UPS, and Auctiva Insurance only comes into play if UPS does not cover the whole claim amount. And after 8 tears I have never had UPS not process a cliam quickly and for the full amount.

Thanks, this is exactly the input that I was looking for. It sounds to me that this could be a potential source of customer dissatisfaction, and could lead to Ebay negative feedback, which I want to avoid at all costs. I think I will stick with traditional insurance methods. I agree, I have never had a problem with either UPS OR the Post Office honoring a claim from one of my shipments. Not that I have had that many claims, but the very few that I have had have been honored and quickly. Thanks for your response. Anyone else out there with experience with the insurance claim process through Auctiva?

I had an expensive professional camera len's show arrive broken. Buyer wanted partial refund for repairs and U-pic paid very fast. Sure it was a little confusing the 1st time, since the buyer had to cooperate, but I received a check for full amount claimed, and buyer was happy!

Since then, I'm glad they changed the filing method, so now you can go online and file everything.

A side note: I've made almost $300 this year on the xtra cut I get from offering Auctiva insurance, so I have no complaints!!!!

I received an email saying that my buyer bought auctiva insurance and I have several questions. 1) It is a UPS shipment so she does not need to buy this insurance. Why did it offer her insurance when the "insurance is included in the S&H" option was selected in this auction? 2) I don't see her paying me for this insurance but I do see auctiva charging me for this insurance. How do I cancel this insurance and get my money back from auctiva? I had money deposited in my auctiva insurance account and it was automatically withdrawn from this account. 3) Is there a way to set up my auctiva account so it does not offer auctiva insurance when the option "Insurance is included in in the S&H" is selected in my ebay auctions(especially on UPS shipping auctions)? Any help would be great. Thank you.

Hi Rainbowskies,

Auctiva Shipping insurance operates independently of insurance that may be provided automatically by certain shipping carriers so, if you have Auctiva Shipping Insurance enabled, and you specify insurance as "Invluded in S&H", Auctiva will automatically generate a shipping insurance policy covering that item at no additional cost to your buyer.

The only workaround I can think of that would allow you to keep the Auctiva Shipping Insurance setting enabled, and not have policies generated for your listings that will be shipped via UPS, is to specify insurance as "Not Offered" and then state in your description that the shipment will automatically be insured by UPS.

If you do not need the Auctiva Shipping Insurance policy that was generated to cover a specific item, please file a support request using the appropriate link on our help page, http://www.auctiva.com/free-auction-software-help/help.aspx, and our customer support team can cancel that policy and remove the associated charges from your account.

-Mike

Ok Mike D. I will keep that in mind in the future. Thanks.

I've not used the online claim form yet, but I did have to file one claim a year or so ago. It was pretty easy, and I got the claim check very promptly.

A few things to remember when dealing with insurance:

1) The customer, most likely, will have to be involved in some way or another. This could involve taking pictures of the damaged item or packaging, and/or sending a signed letter to the seller (you) stating the nature of the claim (i.e. lost in the mail, damaged, etc.) This is a big wild card, because some customers are more difficult to deal with than others. There's no way around this, though - U-Pic is in the business of making money, and it's just not a smart idea to be handing out claim checks without generally needing some kind of proof that an item was lost or damaged.

2) Don't wait for your claim check to arrive before reimbursing your customer. You take on the burden of the claim when an item is damaged or lost, so your customer shouldn't be made to wait for his/her money back when they have fulfilled their end of the bargain. This will also avoid making your customers angry about delays in getting their money back.

3) Always, ALWAYS, insure anything that you can't afford to lose if it gets damaged or lost in transit - even if the customer doesn't pay for the insurance, you should buy it to protect yourself. If a customer pays with PayPal, they will generally get their money back if they file a claim with PayPal.

4) Remember that U-Pic insures international shipments! This can take some of the fear out of selling to international customers, since you can file claims on lost or damaged items, whether they are tracked or not. I don't sell very much on eBay nowadays, but when I did, Canada was a pretty big market for me.