I used to work for USPS, once a piece of mail leave the US borders it's at the mercy of every Country that it travels through. I once had a customer tell me that he always registers his packages even though they contain only a few dollars worth of fabrics because without fail, the Customs office opens each package, keeps it and if there's no official claim filed, they keep the articles for themselves. Once he started doing the registration, all the packages were "found' and delivered, torn boxes and all. This of course was in countries like Bulgaria etc. Some countries have Strikes. If one Postal worker which may be all there is for a region decides not to work for 3 weeks because he wants to go fishing or whatever, there is no mail processing, no delivery, nothing! Everything stands still. It affects all mail coming and going through that area.
By the way, the postal rates for each country are determined by that Country. The US only abides by that rate. They do not add anything extra to it.
Just thought I'd let you in on a few behind the scenes things. In the US all REGISTERED Mail goes much slower, it goes under lock and key literally. Every Postal person who touches that article has to sign for it, in and out and if undelivered, back in again. It is kept in the vault overnight. Usually Jewelry, Bearer Bonds things that cost up to $10,000.00 are insured.
To make a claim on any item you must present proof of cost! A receipt or some kind of Insurance Assessment before the mailing took place. You'd be surprised how many people have broken TV's save the shipping boxes and a year or more later try to return them and want the USPS to pay for them with no receipts etc. I have personally processed several claims from the same 10 people! 🙂 I'm sure they were refused.
So you are right, protect yourself and make sure your customers understand that they must protect themselves as well.
