You guys are stressing me out! I'm just about to package up a preamp and ship it from Ontario to Michigan!
I spoke to the proprietor at the UPS Store and he said there are 2 kinds of insurance:
(1) missing package (just like it sounds - your package goes missing in their system and they are unable to locate it); and (2) damage insurance.
He said in order to get damage insurance, UPS (or in this case, the UPS Store) needs to pack it. You can't pack it yourself. You also need to prove to them it works prior to them packing it (yeah, that's REALLY easy to do with a preamp!). He also advised me to not bother getting this insurance, as 95% of the time UPS will not pay out a damage claim unless the contents of the package show physical damage that you can prove did not previously exist. That means, if they were to drop the package and %$#@! up all the solder joints and connections inside the amp, you're not getting a red hot cent. Anybody familiar with this? Do you guys typically get both types of insurance, or only missing package insurance?
Finally, what's the consensus: (a) UPS, (b) FedEx or (c) USPS/CanadaPost?
Thanks!