here is what i was told at kinko's - i later verified this from fedex (the real one). you cannot insure stereo equipment (or much of anything else apparently). fedex automatically insures everything up to $500 and apparently is liable under some circumstances up to $1000. apparently there are very rare exceptions to the no insurance rule, but stereo doesn't apply. i was told that if you have a shipping account you can insure up to something like $10K. when they ask you for a 'declared value' you are only doing that - declaring a value. it is NOT being insured for that amount which seems to me to be kind of a scam. apparently this policy has been around for a long time - it is NOT new and has nothing to do with kinko's.
how do you ship?
i don't usually use (well, okay probably never) fedex, but a guy i just sold to wanted it fedex. so i took my preamp to kinko's to ship it and was told that fedex only insures up to $500? are you kidding me? i had this verified by fedex by phone. is this common knowledge? so how do you guys ship? i have always sent either usps or UPS and have never had a problem with either. as an aside, just last week i had some new Axiom HT speakers delivered to me. i watched as the fedex guy wheeled them up to the bottom of my stairs with a hand cart. then, as i am staring at him, PLOP goes my speakers face down on the sidewalk in their box. PLOP goes my speakers as he flips them end over end to the top of my 10 feet of stairs. luckily Axiom has great packaging so no harm done. but even from a customer service standpoint, WOW.