It's funny this topic came up. I was just talking to my local postmaster about this. Keep your reciepts, and find other comparable items online that have a similar price, print them out and keep them on hand just in case. If you can prove that other items out there are valued the same then they'll give you your money. As far as quilts you sell if you keep a cancelled check, or verification of payment then that will suffice as well.

Horror story about using FedEx....when our daughter got married, her new father-in-law lovingly handmade a small grandfather type clock for their fireplace mantle out of rare Hawaiian wood. He built a special crate to house the clock during transit, keep it upright, and insured it and all that. When the said "crate" arrived....no clock, just a piece of board that had the name and address on it. Tracking did no good as the tracking was tracking that piece of address board and not the whole crate.

Well, I *was* going to say that I preferred FedEx, but after that last horror story posted from Hawaii... yikes!

This did not work at my local post office. A while back, I mailed a small quilt with insurance via USPS. They would not pay anything for the lost quilt as I could not "prove with receipts" what I paid for the quilt. They only thing they would give me was reimbursement for shipping & insurance.

I had the correspondence from the person who purchased the quilt, but USPS would not reimburse the cost she had paid.

I think the difference is that if you made it for sale or bought it on eBay, you have an invoice and payment (paypal/check) showing what you paid - which becomes the official value.

When you make it as a gift and send it out, there's nothing except the fabric receipts.

Even thought it can be two exact items, the PO will treat them differently.

So to even have a slight chance you'd have to pay for insurance you probably won't be able to collect on.

:roll:

I always use UPS. I ship things to my daughter in NY all the time and have never had a problem. I love being able to track my shipments online.

I always suggest signature confirmation if there is not anyone home when the mail comes. A delivery confirmation package can just be left at the door or worse, I've seen packages hanging on mailboxes at the road. If someone has to sign for it, it can't be left outside "all alone".

I would send it USPS Priority with delivery confirmation

Yes, FedEx....that horror story was sure a deterrent to not use them....at least for me. I've sent things either by Postal Service or UPS and have never had trouble.

My post master told me to NEVER put the word quilt anywhere on the outside of the package!! If you are mailing it out of the country. Just put craft supplies on it. He & his wife are both quilters...good luck...crafty_linda_b