Since everyone enjoys this discussion so much, I’ll add some more comments about self-insuring low-price parcels where I have a lot of dupe chips.

I put the idea out for discussion. I have rarely self-insured parcels where the buyer paid for insurance.

Things are often more complicated than the first impressions would indicate.

Saying “add $1.50 for postage-insurance” is not a contract to use only Post Office insurance, by the way.

I have never had a lost parcel when I took out the $.85 post office insurance, but have had things “lost” in trades when there was no such post office insurance. I wonder if making a big announcement about self-insurance will give some buyers ideas about making a false claim. Not many, of course, but some.

If I charged just $1.50 for postage-insurance, I don’t think many would look or care how it was insured. $1.50 seems cheap even without insurance. (Spare me the exact numbers.)

Sometimes I go to the post office with a lot of parcels to insure. Don’t mind waiting on line, etc........... Other times when I asked the buyer for postage-insurance and intended to use post office insurance, I find that I have only one or two parcels that I would rather throw in the corner PO box and not spend an hour of so insuring the regular way. So that is what I might do.