When I first began shopping on e-bay I wasn't sure about insurance. Since I tend to err on the side of caution I insured everything. Weel, that is no longer true. I am now selelcgive about what I insure. I also insure Porecelain Collectibles, like plate of Precious Moments Figurined. However, when shipping a CD I don't insure it because it's really hard to break a CD; Jewel cases do break but they are inexpensive to replace. However, the times that I had a collectibel  item get broken (which does happen) I have been extremely happy that I had it.

The USPS is wonderful when it comes to insurance. All you do is take the original insurance ticket (which you ask the seller to mail to you), the broken item, and a printed payment slip from PayPal to a local Post Office. When I took it to substations once I had all the info in I weas mailed a Postal Money Order. I have become adept enough at this that I now wait for the insurance slip from the shipper and take everything to the main Post Office. When you do that
9 out of 10 times you  leave with a Postal Money Order in hand and you can just stop at tjhe counter on the way out and cash it. They reimburse for everything (if everything is damaged) except for the cost of the insurance. When I mentioned that a partial shipment was replaced I am referring specifically to once when the picture arrived intact but the frame broke. So I paid for the replacement frame, took the receipt for that and everything mentioned above and voila! Another money order!

UPS is a different story. They refund the money to the shipper and they do not reimburse for shipping. So now I not only check the feedback on a seller I also check and see who the shipper is (and of course the shipping costs). If s seller uses anyone besides the USPS I will not bid on that item. It's like using PayPal - why bid on something without being able to buy and pay with ease and confidence? It makes my life easier. And amazingly enough, so does the USPS.