The seller is responsible for the goods until they are in the buyers hands. The goods belong to the seller until such time and it is the seller that initiates the shipment with the shipping company. As such the transaction to deliver is between the seller and the shipping company. Therefore the burden to insure the shipment is on the seller and not the buyer. This is not an opt-out type of situation simply because of the nature of the transaction.
There are many many things that can go wrong to prevent the buyer from receiving the goods. In the past 20 years I have seen them all. The burden of proof is all on the seller to prove that they shipped the package. At that point the package can be lost, stolen, delivered to the wrong place and simply left with no signature, or the buyer can even get the package and claim he didn't get it.
So that brings up the next point - what is the downside?
Reputation. When a seller sells something then his whole reputation resides in that sale. He takes money and has both the money and the product. IF the product does not reach the buyer then he should be obligated to give the money back. But then he is out the product as well so where will he get the money for the lost product?
From the shipping company. It's that simple. The seller should cover himself by insuring EVERY PACKAGE ALL THE TIME NO MATTER WHAT. It's a small price to pay and a smart seller factors it into the price he is charging and makes it invisible to the customer.
That way the reputation of the seller remains intact with no argument, no hand wringing, no back and forth with the customer about responsibility.
The seller handles it all with the shipping company, they make restitution - everyone's happy.
In 20 years I have had probably more than 20 claims and in just about every case the shipping company paid off with no fuss.
That's just my opinion on the matter and the way I handle my business. I have seen UPS leave a box sitting out on the hot Florida sand leaning against a gate which contained $20,000 in cues and had tape all over it that said "Adult Signature Required". The box was fully insured. - the driver signed for it himself and left it at the gate. Not even inside the fence. This happened to me with a shipment of very high end Blue Book featured cues on a shipment out of California to Florida sent next day air early am.
The point is that the onus of delivery is on the seller. He contracts an agent to carry out the delivery. While he might be able to get away with possibly shifting responsibility to the buyer by giving them the option to pay more for insurance or forgo it I believe that morally and ethically the seller should carry 100% of the responsibility for getting the product to the buyer. Anytime the product is lost in transit or for whatever reason does not get to the buyer then the seller and his shipping agent are responsible for it. IMO.
John Barton
www.jbcases.com