This is a little late... But yeah in that case I agree 100%. Different case if you're shipping some scientific equipment worth 1500 dollars now and then. And

This is a little late... But yeah in that case I agree 100%. Different case if you're shipping some scientific equipment worth 1500 dollars now and then. And if that equipment is 50,000 bucks, maybe you start looking at a private courier. I have a friend who used to work as a registrar for a museum, shipping stuff that was worth millions, or even arguably priceless. She'd ride on the planes and ride in the backs of the trucks that transported this stuff. She'd have to document every scratch, every discoloration, etc, and sign off on it, before shipping began so they could compare at the end of the trip. But I was suggesting a hedge. Come up with your own numbers, but if item is worth greater than 2000, insure for 200, costing 70 cents for UPS. That way it gets UPS internal stickers saying it's insured, probably beeps or something every time someone scans it, and provokes an entirely different attitude than marking it "FRAGILE", according to antecdotal evidence.