I would agree that SK handled it nicely, and not losing a ton of money on it is a bonus. There's a lot to be said for gaining points through service. It's not always easy to go this route for many different reasons, especially if one is talking big ticket items. For a sub $50 item, I'd probably work something out like that if possible, but I rarely deal in items in that value range.

I should clarify the nature of what I do and why I am the way I am about shipping. I know I came off a little harsh. I sell a service, not a product.You send me your item, I service it and send it back to you. I am one of less than half a dozen people (that I know of) in the US that do the specialty work I do. Hence my insistence on insurance both directions. There's an added value once I get done with an item, but its not tangible for insurance purposes. In addition, may of the items I work with are no longer made, so how do you value that? Not all carriers recognize "replacement value" when you do purchase add on insurance for shipping.

The shipping thing is a real crap shoot, and even with the best of carriers and extra levels of security like signature required, things do happen. I once had a box opened by a shippers warehouse employee, the item removed, and the box relabeled with a new label. I was able to prove it as my shippers info showed a 5 pound box, but the customer received an empty box with a label, over the original label, that said 2 lbs. The carrier did pay the claim, but the stolen item was something that is no longer made, client had purchased it off eBay, and I'd done several hundred dollars worth of work to it. I really can't remember if I customized the item he got with his claim money or not; it was a long long time ago.

I.