Is Banggood insurance worth paying for?

In my opinion banggood is not worth buying from. So, the question of insurance is superfluous.

Not to invite a thrashing…just sharing my thoughts on insurance. I’ve read the reasons not to pay for it and they all make sense. I agree…when you order, you should expect delivery. That’s the contract you’ve entered into.

The problem arises when other parties handle your package. Banggood or Gear best turns your package over to a 3rd party, the 3rd party causes damage or loses it. Without insurance either company could say…“make a claim with the shipping company…”

If one has paid for insurance (usually a dollar or 3) it seems to me you could have additional leverage directly over the company. You have paid a few dollars extra EXPRESSLY for the company to make it right. It also could seem as a token of ‘respect’ (when dealing with a customer service rep…not a small issue for an overseas company). You have cared so much for your shipment and wanted their product so bad that you have given them a few dollars more to insure you receive it and in good condition. I think it could also be a good card to play if a company needs to make something right. How could a company in good faith refuse a claim after you have paid for insurance? (not that they couldn’t/wouldn’t try…)

I understand and am in favor of holding a company’s feet to the fire for bad service and a company will live or die based on their ability to provide satisfactory service.

However, I have no problem paying a few dollars more for insurance. It does give me ‘peace of mind’ (perhaps falsely). I think it adds to your hand if you need to make a claim. I consider it AMAZING one can make a few clicks on the computer and have something shipped from the other side of the world—from one of the most chaotic places in the world (I would love to see a video of banggood preparing and shipping their orders for the day and the Chinese logistics involved) and the mailperson drops its on your door in 2-3 weeks! This is a fairly recent development in technology. We weren’t clicking buttons to have fidget spinners and squishies mailed to us for free a few years ago…if a company can make a profit sending me a $10 flashlight from China with free shipping…God bless them! I don’t mind chipping a few more pennies into that pot.

I am also sure such companies have to finance the anticipated losses they no doubt incur. No company wants a transaction to go bad. Vendors that ship must lose tens of thousands (if not more) to shipping mishaps every year. When you pay insurance, it goes into an account to pay for those losses. Maybe I pay insurance and my stuff arrives OK. I have paid extra money for a service I didn’t need. But that money will/can go to help the company pay other claims for other people. If my $3 helps to support a system for the company to do right by others, I am fine with that too. That’s how insurance works. Does one bemoan the unused fire extinguisher in their home? No one buys a fire extinguishing HOPING they have to use it! Ideally…a fire extinguisher is ALWAYS a waste of money and is never used!

Many people…probably at least DOZENS and many vehicles are required to produce, handle and send your package. If my extra $3 can help keep that process viable and maybe puts some more money into the hands of underpaid workers then good karma for me.

^ Thank you very much ManWithoutShadow for the effort you put in this post. It seems that legally vendors are responsible for the package to arrive safely and insurance is not necessary if purchased via PayPal. Because you have a certain right does not mean you should/must exercise that right. I tend to think the way you do. Of course to each his own. :sunglasses:

It might pay for the peace of mind if you’re buying something pricey (eg, >50bux), to avoid headaches in case it goes missing. But for cheaper items, it’s in the company’s own best interest to just make good on it, else the negative press associated with “I got screwed! I never got my package and they told me too bad!” can hurt them lots more than the cost to just require some kind of “proof” and make good on it.

For really cheapcrap like flash-sales for a few bux, it definitely is in their best interest to just oil the squeaky wheel and make him go away, especially if ha hangs on and makes a bigger and bigger stink. Initiating a chargeback by credit-card, or dispute via paypal, is probably more of a hassle for them to deal with defending their position vs just folding. Then there’s the negative press again… :smiley:

But wasn’t it DX which started to go downhill, to the point where people were warning others away from them? Forgot the history, but some company was always great, started sucking pretty bad, and all but got s’canned.

Buying a phone-holder or pocket-clip for 99¢ on a flash sale, and then paying 3bux for shipping and another buck-fitty for insurance, just doesn’t make sense. So you pick the free-shipping option, and if you don’t get it, either eat it yourself, or yeah, ask them to make good. Most times it’s worth it for the company to make the person goway by refunding the buk he paid than by fighting tooth’n’nail to hang on to that lousy buk.

But yeah, you wanna buy an Imalent for 90bux, you really wanna take a chance it gets lost and you lose all that? Chances are shipping will be much more reasonable, and insurance will buy that peace of mind.

ManWithoutShadow, that’s admirable. At this point I’ve lost faith in those companies to do right without a fight. If I have to fight for what I paid the seller for twice, with the original payment plus insurance, then I’d rather use the insurance inherent in Paypal. Now if there was third party insurance that I could claim without requiring compliance from the seller, then I’d be willing to use that occasionally. The only good way I can think of that happening is if Paypal, or a Paypal substitute, offered that. I won’t do it all the time though, and sometimes I’ll be petty like when BG didn’t find a way for the people on the list to get their lights first. Sadly, losses are a part of business that good businesses account for, and bad businesses are going to find a way to fail even with generous buyers subsidizing their losses.

I was a bit disingenuous earlier. It is possible for the recipient to file a claim, but the process is unreasonable outside of B2B deals. If consumers are going to do that, the process needs to be much more straightforward.

Not a chance.

I think I’ve paid the extra buck or two for insurance a few times, mainly on items a bit more expensive than normal. Tracking is included for items more than something like $25, and so insurance is not much. You have to pay for both tracking and insurance for cheaper items, so it’s not worth it. Insurance is probably not necessary, but my reasoning is if there’s a problem, they’ll make good on it much easier.

Or, maybe it’s pure profit for them, and it makes zero difference when it comes to a claim. I have no idea.

I don’t think I’ve never made a claim for a lost item that I insured. However, I have made a claim on an uninsured item. Actually, it was just an question about something that hadn’t arrived after a couple of months. I don’t think they even asked me anything, they just sent me another item (which arrived fine in about 3 weeks). So, insurance doesn’t appear to be needed.

I think if someone was abusing the system, they’d probably make them pay for tracking and insurance for everything. I think Paypal closes your account, if you have too many disputes. I think I read that Paypal will close your account if you go around them and deal with your credit-card company instead. Charge-backs are costly for them.

I pay the insurance on any shipment over about $20.00. Just sort of for peace of mind that it would be easier to get a refund or reship if the package doesn’t show. I know they would probably take these actions anyways, but I don’t mind paying a fee for that level of customer service.

I have had a few orders go bad with Banggood. They have always stepped up to make it right. Sure it takes a few messages to get what you want, but its never exactly a “fight”. They have refunded my order a couple of times and reshipped a bunch of orders which were actually just extremely late. Once I even ended up with two of something because the first order was just extremely late.

I just registered to share my experience with Banggood:

  • I ordered a 250 usd phone, I did pay for insurance.
  • I ordered about 10-12 items after I ordered the phone, all of them way cheaper than the phone, I also paid insurance for them.
  • Every item arrived, except the phone. Every order had detailed tracking information, except the phone.
  • 2 months passed after I ordered the phone, the tracking had no updates since the day I made the order.
  • I contacted Banggood, they asked me to contact my local post office with the tracking number, the tracking number wasn’t in the records of my local post office.
  • Banggood proceeded to refund the phone.

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Up to this point eveything seemed fine: No phone arrived within the promised time frame (25 days), I reported it after more than twice that timeframe (60 days) and the payment was refunded.

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  • The phone arrived out of nowhere. The tracking had no updates until the very last day.
  • Banggood contacted me asking me to pay for the phone.
  • I contacted support with one question: “Didn’t the insurance cover this incident?” I cited their policy pageyour parcel did not arrive at your destination within its estimated delivery time
  • Their response was: NO

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At this point I decided to pay back for the phone, but I felt really disappointed because what’s the purpose of the insurance if they’re not going to honor it?

But after this experience I will just leave this recommendation: If they don’t have actual terms written by actual lawyers, it’s just a money grab.

“Send me a prepaid return label, and you can have it back.”

It’s only fair you (re)pay for the missing phone that materialized out of the blue after you got a refund. The detail that bothers me more is whether (or not) you need insurance if you have tracked shipping.
If the item is missing in transit, even when the postal company does not have any tracking info, the responsability for the delivery still lies with the seller… They must proof you got your parcel. With untracked parcels it will be your word against their word. And you have no money, nor a parcel.

So I’m a bit in doubt. If you use tracked shipping, insurance is too much luxury. And unnecessary.
With standard shipping, it’s up to you. Tracking is much more expensive than insurance.
BTW. If you have insurance the value could be written on the parcel.
That makes it like shooting fish in a barrel for customs to tax you.

While we are on this topic I’d have an additional question:
Does the Banggood tariff insurance work? (they say they pay the import customs/taxes if the parcel is retained by the destination customs agency)

not sure usually this is not needed 99% of times…

Same thinking. However if it was a USA company i would not buy in.
Just knowing its coming from so far away can create many issues makes me worry.
Their marketing team really hit a home run with this option.

im Vip 3 and tariff is not free.

I am VIP2 and tariff insurance is lower than before, about 50¢ now.
One of my banggood orders is also lost currently, and I did pay for shipping insurance. Let’s see how that’ll work out.

Has anyone actually claimed on this and got paid out? I suppose that is the more relevant question, do they follow through if you pay it and get charged?

Is any insurance worth paying for? No , unless you need it.

FWIW, BG insurance is just a way to scam customers out of a few extra dollars.

Paypal with side with you whether or not you have the so called BG insurance.

I agree on cheaper items, I’m not so sure they would side with you every time on say a $100 item……

My latest order came today, i chose the standard express shipping it was shipped via Luxemburg so no signs of it coming from china, no tariff or anything. So never pay extra for that its not needed . I have never been charged import fees before when they had prioirity direct mail.