But okay, what do you do when the seller insured 
the package for only 1/8 of the actual value of 
the merchandise?  And what if they never tell you 
what they insured it for until it's too late to 
do anything about it?

**Tell them to refund the full amount and pay for
the shipping for you to return the original items
to them at their expense.


And what do you do when the seller gives you a 
hard time about filing the claim, vaguely implies 
that you're trying to scam money, doesn't want 
you to file the claim but doesn't file the claim 
themselves (after you e-mailed them photos 
proving the damage beyond doubt) and then sits on 
the issue for over a month?

**File the complaint yourself and report them to
ebay if it was done through an auction. At the
very least  you need to inform the authorities,
you’ve been waiting too long and wasting valuable
time.


BUT what do you do when this same seller is 
actually a very well known (and, for the most 
part, respected) seller who has been in business 
for several years and whom almost everyone here 
has dealt with in the past?

**Does NOT matter, each individual transaction
either reinforces their reputation or earns them a
new one.  IMO it absolutely does not matter if
they were the first cel dealer on the planet or if
everyone else had wonderful experiences with them.
What matters is how they conduct themselves in
your transaction, nothing more. 

**It does not matter why they did what they did by
failing to insure it for the full amount you paid
for, the reality is they did, move and find
proactive ways to deal with it. Right now everyone
you’ve written is just limbo, no action on their
part has been taken. You are getting lipservice
and while you are venting it does nothing to
resolve the situation.

And what do you do when you realize that despite 
the fact that you've lost so much money due to 
the inadequate insurance, you're probably going 
to continue to do business with this seller in 
the future, because they are probably still the 
one of the few best sources left around for stuff 
you collect most?

** I’d seriously suggest that you reevaluate the
importance of this “stuff you collect” and weigh
the fact that you might get screwed again, they
might not want your business, and what you are
buying isn’t really important. Sure you are
getting temporary enjoyment wonderful, but you are
only a consumer and these things you get are
hardly necessary, they are luxury items, I am
certain if you wanted to, you could do with out
them. Am I encouraging you to quit, not
completely, just reevaluate your priorities. Sound
like you might be willing to submit yourself to
undue stress and heartache over things, IMO that
is questionable. 


But the reason why I never bothered this seller 
for about a month is because he threatened to 
blacklist me for pressuring him to file the claim 
and because he's (as I've said) a well-known and 
respected dealer whom I do not want to alienate 
in the future.  But when I finally ask about the 
claim over a month later, it turns out that he 
was expecting me to file the claim (even when he 
did everything to discourage me not to) and after 
some more negotiation he sends me a copy of the 
insurance slip, which reveals that the actual 
insurance coverage is about 1/8 of my total 
investment in that package.

**Again, who care if they blacklist you! You have
a legitimate grievance and you are afraid of
asserting your own defense. They are literally
holding you hostage with fear. How professional do
you think this type of behavior is if it were in
any other type of profession? It would be
positively illegal and unprofessional. Do you
REALLY want to continue doing business with such a
sleaze? *shakes head, and it does NOT matter who
it is*

All I can do now is go to the post office this 
morning, file an insurance claim that I HOPE IS 
NOT TOO LATE, and hopefully collect only a small 
fraction of what I lost to damage.  As for what I 
will do with the seller... I will probably do 
nothing except bite my lip and pretend that 
everything's okay (for the reasons I mentioned 
above).

**You are a becoming a glutton for punishment and
if the same thing happens to you again, I hope you
have the courage to stand up for yourself someday.

But all the grief that I've gone through just to 
get even this far... I wish there was more than I 
could have done.  But with my recent illness, I 
just don't have what it takes to put up a fight 
anymore.  And I'm not hesitant to say that I'm 
very, very depressed about being in this hobby 
these days.

**Yes we all wish you well and the best of health,
see that IS a HIGH priority regardless of your
socioeconomic background. Your cels won’t make
your smarter, healthier, wealthier and certainly
not wiser. This is why I am stressing consider
reevaluating your priorities. Material possessions
are not essential, why stress yourself over them
so much? Life is too damn short.


Can you ever think of a situation where a seller 
is justified in insuring a package (at your 
request) for only 1/8 the total value of its 
contents (much less resist filing any insurance 
claim for that grossly undervalued coverage)?

**Never justified, they simply failed to act
professionally and pay the coverage that you PAID
FOR. If you have emails, informing them, you can
take them to small claims court in CA. I certainly
would in your situation. If you have things in
writing, proof from receipts and the photos and
their reluctance as shown in email
replies/blacklist threats, I’d let the judge
decide. So long as the total value is under 5k you
SHOULD GO TO SMALL CLAIMS COURT ASAP! Good luck
and stand up for yourself, please.