I have a pistol that I'm going to send out for some work. The cost to ship the gun without insurance is $50, insuring it to the value of the piece will be another $500. The work to be done on the pistol will cost less than the cost to insure it to its destination.

What are the thoughts and recommendations from those who have been here?

- Is the UPS service my FFL uses reliable and honorable enough to forgo the extra cost of insurance?

- Even if I do insure it and it goes missing, how long and complicated is the process to receive compensation?

- Why is shipping insurance so costly?

The odds of actually getting paid on a claim are slim to none. Save your money and take your chances.

In 15 years as an FFL I've never had an issue. But UPS and FedEx are notorious for not paying out. The way my business UPS account is set up, anything insured for over $1000 has to be dropped off at a Hub. Not a UPS store, not picked up by the driver, but dropped at the hub and the hub has to sign a form stating the insurance value.

I would check that insurance cost again. I sent a $1200 pistol insured for $80. FFL to FFL USPS.

quote:

Originally posted by marksman41:
I have a pistol that I'm going to send out for some work. The cost to ship the gun without insurance is $50, insuring it to the value of the piece will be another $500. The work to be done on the pistol will cost less than the cost to insure it to its destination.

What are the thoughts and recommendations from those who have been here?

- Is the UPS service my FFL uses reliable and honorable enough to forgo the extra cost of insurance?

- Even if I do insure it and it goes missing, how long and complicated is the process to receive compensation?

- Why is shipping insurance so costly?

Where'd you get the 500 dollar quote for insurance? I haven't shopped a firearm in several years but the insurance was never anything close to 500 dollars or even 100 dollars.

calugo - The insurance quote is $1.80/$100 from two different FFLs via UPS. Next time you're at any of your local FFLs, ask about shipping. I'd be interested to know what variation there is based on locality.

USPS can/would be cheaper but after having so many issues and frustrations with that organization I choose to limit my use of that service.

bigwagon - that's about what I figured regarding payout of a lost item.

mrvmax - disappointing, yet good, to have confirmation of (non) payout. Your experience of not having a shipping issue is also very helpful.

I think I'll have my FFL just do his standard shipping and forgo the insurance. It'll make for a better value-added proposition and, perhaps, will avoid any extra attention from a sticky-fingered shipping employee.

Thanks guys.

Do you have insurance thru homeowners, renters or valuable property policies/riders?

I don't remember having that kind of insurance but I'll need to check the policy.

My understanding is that valuables are covered only if they are stolen from the home of the insurance policy. Is that incorrect?

Use Shipmygun.com, or have your FFL use USPS to send the handgun insured. I use pirateship.com and send firearms via USPS all the time. FedEx and UPS require overnight delivery for handguns, USPS does not.

Tony.

I wouldn't even bother with insurance for transferrable machine guns. The carriers won't pay. Your homeowners or other valuable personal property insurance may pay. But USPS insurance is a sad joke. Might be better off spending the same amount of $$ on scratch off lotto tix.

Someone’s either trying to make money off the shipping costs or they’re just lying to you. I’m an 07/02 FFL also. I shipped a rifle last week that weighed 25 lbs once boxed with accessories. I insured it per the buyers request for the sales price ($2000). FedEx shipping was $123. I have a FedEx account and get a *small* discount, but not much. Something sounds fishy if I’m reading the OP correctly.

Side note, the last firearm I shipped with USPS was a select fire MAC10. I shipped it to a dealer in Florida… it wound up in Puerto Rico!