I’m in the process of completing a transaction for a high end card. The buyer and I have agreed on a price of $25k. However, the buyer is located in Singapore while I’m in the US. I’m trying to figure out the best method to not only ship, but make sure the card in insured for the $25K for which it was purchased. First I spoke to a rep at FedEx, and he told me they only insure packages up to $1k, so I would need to find a third party who would be willing to insure the shipping…didn’t want to do that so I spoke to DHL. They told me there’s no limit to the amount I can insure a package for as long as I can provide proof that the package is actually worth said amount, which is easy enough. However, they said I’d also need to provide a Federal Tax ID Number, which I don’t have. I applied for one, but it looks like it’s used primarily for businesses, and they’re wanting to charge me for getting one.
This is where I am currently. I keep thinking there’s a better way to do this. I want to ship the card, but only if it’s properly insured for the amount for which it was purchased, and I know it can get to Singapore safely. Does anyone have any advice/recommendations? I’d love to hear from anyone who’s had experience in shipping high value cards internationally.
The best tip anyone can give you is stick it in a box and grab the fastest Fedex/DHL/UPS shipping option they have and pray.
Honestly, if there is one thing you don’t want is a package with 25k written all over it moving across the world. Couriers are reliable, the odds of it going missing are minuscule.
Sounds simplistic I know, I literally just shipped almost 6 figures worth of trophies to BGS and they were there in 48 hours from Italy with UPS Express. I barely had time to worry about it.
No, it would be basically impossible to get a courier to insure that value. You’d need an external insurance to which you’d have to prove actual value. Imagine that.
Then, It would be written all over the package, customs would stop and verify/open it. The least attention/fastest shipping is the way in my experience.
That’s weird that FedEx said they only have a $1K max insurance. I just shipped a package to Europe via FedEx and insured it for $5K. Maybe the insurance max is less because it is being sent to Singapore?
A lot of people do not insure as they think that it makes the package a target for theft, however I think that insuring it is always worth it because if it is stolen you are still covered.
You would have overpaid for insurance that you can’t claim because FedEx only insures up to 1k for collectibles. It’s stated in their carriage terms.
They won’t prevent you from paying for 5k insured but once you go to claims and they find out it’s declared as a collectible you’d be in for a surprise.
Thanks for the heads up. I don’t have a FedEx in town so I went through a third-party shipper who processed the FedEx insurance. I declared the items as collectibles, so they must have messed up. I’ll double check in the future though!
Yeah it makes sense the more I look at my options. I guess I’m also wanting to protect the buyer in case anything happens. At this point I think I’m going to give him the option of me shipping it uninsured, or he can come to the states and get it.
Yeah I’ve thought about doing a meet up…but only if he’s willing to come to the states. I’m not desperate to sell the card, so a trip halfway around the world to hand it over isn’t really appealing to me right now lol
I’ve been using Fedex International Priority with success for nearly 8 years. Never had a single lost package but I do use a 3rd party insurer that is not associated with Fedex. But I never had to file a claim before, thank goodness.
FedEx international priority - will vouch for this. Don’t insure, don’t put the value as anything over a few hundred. Keep the attention low as others have said. I’ve never had anything get lost either and I’ve been using them for a while. Brilliant customer support as well.
