Shipping your diamond: cost & advice?

[Todd07]

I haven't seen any threads advising how to ship or what to worry about

I just shipped my e-ring back to WF for a custom setting. Shipped it through the US Postal Services, insured for $8.4k, and the cost was only $16

Any advice or horror stories out there to share?

 

[reena]

my only horror story is that when i shipped it thru the postal service, it took over a week to arrive and nearly gave me a heart attack. so just be prepared for it to take a while!




weren't you guys considering the ritani octagon bezel? what did you decide to go with?

 

[Andrew8527]

Was that Registered mail? If using the USPS, it should be sent Registered Mail, insured with return receipt. Only disadvantage to USPS is time, if you're in a hurry. Otherwise, I'd go with UPS overnight/2nd day and a 3rd party insurance carrier.

Andy

 

[oldminer]

Registered Mail with USPS is the way to go. Safe, but a bit slow. You can now ship Priority Mail Registered with the hope of a two day delivery, but realistically, this may not happen and they do not promise 2 day service.m In a rush, for a lot more, you can use USPS Express Mail for overnight delivery. There is a limit on how much may be insured. It used to be only $5K, but may have been increased to 10K or even 25 K. I rarely use it.




Jewelers have arrangments with UPS or Fed-Ex and private insurance carriers. YOU cannot use either of these for loose stones and you can only use UPS for finished jewelry. Fed-Ex does not insure jewelry or stones, so don't be fooled or misled.


UPS for finished jewelry overnight, 2 day or ground is okay, but thier loss rate is higher than USPS.




I suggest slow and safe is the best for consumers. Jewelers who have the private arrangement for insurance tend to use UPS for rapid delivery work.

 

[Todd07]

We changed our mind(s) after drawing the ring size on her finger (10+mm estimated with bezel) and having second thoughts on the bezel taking away from the diamond.




Now we are looking at a custom that will have claw prongs and pave shank. It should show the diamond better and still provide enough bling for Seattle.




Thank God I don't live in San Diego, from what I read here on typical sizes

 

[slammie]

I just sent my ering to superbcert and almost sent it registered then i thought..wait a minute...I have insurance already so I don't need to send it registered, and mailed it express. I heard that USPS express mail is pretty reliable too. So I didn't have to wait the 1 or even 2 weeks I've heard from others.
Dave, BTW, I had two postal employees tell me that it doesn't make a difference if it's priority or regular mail when you send it registered because it all goes in the same bag and that is why even with priority, it takes longer than the 2 to 3 days! She was trying to save me money..I wonder if it's true!!

 

[reena]

well, what you guys decided on sounds like it will be just gorgeous!

 

[Dancing Fire]

i had a package ship from montana to calif it took 16 days

via pony express,but USPS register mail is the safest way.

 

[reena]

after having dealt with the loooooong shipping time of registered mail, the next time around we decided to send the stone UPS overnight. it's expensive, but they will insure packages i believe up to at least $20k, maybe even substantially more than that (we didn't check on what the upper limit was). on top of that, the stone itself was independently insured with chubb, so we weren't worried.




so if you're looking for speed, that's an option. i know others have said that registered mail is "safer", and i'm not sure why, but UPS worked well for us.

 

[ringbling17]

I sent my ring back to Whiteflash TWICE using USPS registered mail. The only problem I had with it was that I had to pack it a certain way (with brown tape) and I couldn't find any.


I had to ask the guy at the post office for some brown tape.

I distinctly remember that Whiteflash will only accept the package if it is mailed via USPS registered mail, anyway.