How to ship a Reverb sale over $10,000

Before you start

• The sale price on the order, since it decides which routes Reverb leaves open.
• A packing plan you can describe, because Safe Shipping is not there to fall back on.
• Coverage for loss or damage arranged before the parcel leaves.

Steps

1. Read the sale price on the order

   In Reverb, open Orders and read the sale price on the order you are packing.

   You should see the figure that decides your shipping route: Reverb says "neither Safe Shipping nor shipping labels on Reverb are available for items with a sale price of $10,000 or more".

2. Buy the postage from the carrier yourself

   Buy a tracked label for the packed weight and the destination outside Reverb, because at this price there is no Reverb label to buy.

   You should see a label and a tracking number that are yours, not Reverb's.

3. Arrange the loss and damage cover separately

   Line up coverage with the carrier or an insurer before the parcel moves, since Safe Shipping cannot be added at this price.

   You should see written cover for the declared value, in your own name.

4. Photograph the packed parcel before it closes

   Photograph the instrument in its packing, then the sealed box with the label on it.

   You should see dated evidence of how the parcel left you, which is what any claim turns on.

5. Select Add Tracking Info on the order

   Back on the Reverb order, select Add Tracking Info.

   You should see the tracking form, with the Shipping Provider list.

6. Add the Shipping Provider and number, then select Add Tracking

   Choose the carrier you bought from, enter the number, and select Add Tracking.

   You should see the order reading as shipped, with your number under Shipping Details.

If it goes wrong

Between $1,500 and $10,000 the rules invert

Safe Shipping is compulsory on Reverb labels from $1,500 to $10,000. Above $10,000 it is unavailable, so the same instrument can be uninsurable on Reverb one day and force-insured the next, depending on the sale price.

Declining Safe Shipping puts the risk on you

Reverb writes that "if you decline Safe Shipping, you assume responsibility for any loss or damages" and that "your shipment does not carry protection from Reverb or the carrier". At $10,000 and above that is not a choice you are making.

Packaging exclusions bite on claims

Reverb's Safe Shipping article lists packaging conditions that void cover. Read them before you pack, because the same standards are what a carrier claims adjuster applies to your own policy.

What happens next

Reverb Protection is unaffected by the label source: Reverb asks for "record of both the payment and the shipment on Reverb", and contact within 7 days of delivery or 14 days of the anticipated delivery date. The shipping clock does not change either, at 3 business days from the sale and 24 hours on a 2-day order. What changes at $10,000 is that loss and damage are entirely yours to insure.