Legendary Winnings

[Exhibitman]

Jay, that is correct if the auction house is paying for insurance via the USPS. However, any business can purchase a policy that covers shipping on a blanket basis, not item by item, under any carrier that provides delivery proof [USPS, Fed Ex, UPS, etc.]. No well-run merchant would spend money per item when a blanket policy would provide the same coverage for a far lesser price, unless a decision has been made to externalize the costs. However, Fed Ex Ground's insurance [its Declared Value surcharge] is not the rate stated in the post in this thread--it changes every $100 [I just ran a cost analysis with Fed Ex on its web site to ship from LA to NYC on a 1# package at values from $100 to $1,000 and it doesn't match those figures]. What I suspect is really going on is one of two things:

(1) The auction house is externalizing the cost of the insurance by using a formula that doesn't represent actual costs of insurance actually purchased; or

(2) The auction house is externalizing a flat cost of a blanket insurance policy by utilizing a formula in its cost accounting.

Neither is per se "good" or "bad" in and of itself, but both are strategies designed to externalize a cost that may be non-existent or internal and unrelated to the rate charged. Now, whether that cost is real or not depends on the precise nature of the coverage that the auction house has. Normally, a policy that covers the consignments while in the hands of the auction house will either have a bulit-in shipping coverage or a rider that covers it for a separate flat fee.