How to ship jewelry using USPS
Shipping high-dollar jewelry via USPS can be nerve-wracking. There will be a lot of people and machinery touching your valuable items, and it will be out of your sight and possession. While it’ll be impossible to make sure your piece doesn’t get lost of stolen, it can be monetarily protected, if it does. That’s what is covered in this document. Making sure you are made monetarily compensated to the value of your piece if it gets lost or stolen in transit.
So how do you “safely” ship your jewelry within the U.S.?
We’ve done a little research so you don’t have to. Here is a list on how we would opt to ship jewelry as safely as possible using USPS. And we’ve included direct links to their page for confirmation. However, we do recommend you confirm all details with the carrier directly.
There are also a couple things to keep in mind regarding this post.
- There is no way to insure/protect the sentimental value of your jewelry. These protections/insurances only cover the monetary value of your piece.
- You will need to pay extra for these shipping methods, and you may be required to provide documentation of value, etc. Be sure to check with the carrier on what documentation is required.
- Do NOT rely on your existing jewelry insurance policy to cover your piece during shipping. They likely have provisions in their policies that exclude shipping, or when the piece is out of your possession/control.
Shipping Jewelry via USPS
Based on this cool document by USPS, where they include case studies of various shipping scenarios, it seems like the best option will depend on the value of jewelry.
Under $5,000?
It looks like getting their “option C”, or “First-Class Package Service – Retail with Insurance” is your most cost effective coverage. You pay for First-Class Package Service AND you need to buy insurance on top of this to make sure your covered up to the $5,000 amount.
Greater than $5,000 but less than $50,000?
It looks like “option B” is the best option. This is “First-Class Package Service – Retail with Registered Mail” AND getting additional insurance to cover up to the $50,000 limit.
Greater than $50,000?
It does not appear to have an option to fully cover this type of shipment.
Long story, short, you can insure your jewelry up to $50,000 on USPS, but you will need to pay more and you will likely need documentation of the jewelry value.
Looking for more information on jewelry appraisals? Check out our blog article on the process, and where to go to get the appraisal.