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Precautions to take when handing over a package to a courier to avoid tampering
Unfortunately, a recent phenomenon affects collectors and especially professional partners and shops. The issue concerns the tampering of parcels. This means that a parcel is not stolen, it does not disappear, but it leaves and arrives at its destination and yet is "tampered with". The parcel is opened by a driver or warehouse thief, only some of the items inside it (cards, comics, packs, etc.) are stolen, and it is then resealed and delivered by the company.
This phenomenon is unfortunately the result of a regulatory gap whereby transport and logistics companies have no strict penalties (not even mild ones) if their employees commit thefts or parcel tampering. Even insurance companies cannot cover the event because it is almost impossible to produce indisputable legal documentation proving the exact initial and final content of the parcel.
Our insurance conditions are explicit: insurance covers total loss/destruction, but does not cover tampering. Therefore, if a parcel does not arrive, the insurance pays. If instead the parcel arrives but has been tampered with, the insurance does not pay. For this reason, we unfortunately cannot help or refund clients whose parcel has been tampered with, but we can help make this tampering difficult or impossible. In fact, everything depends on how the parcel is prepared.
We wrote this page to give some important guidelines to all partners, professionals, and anyone interested in shipping parcels while making tampering difficult or impossible, thus making thieves' lives much harder. By adopting a few precautions, it is indeed possible to reduce the chances of a parcel being tampered with.
The perfect parcel for a thief is this: a cardboard box already used and damaged, delivered without requesting a receipt, not photographed at departure, sealed with anonymous tape (the classic brown packing tape), and not sealed on all sides.
This parcel will be tempting because for a courier or warehouse worker it will be easy to open it, steal part of the contents, and reseal it. In this way, the recipient may not notice anything at delivery but only later.
Here therefore are the main tips and best practices to make life much harder for thieves, in order of importance.
The best solution is to use tamper-evident tape. The goal is to make any attempt to open the parcel immediately visible by using, for example, a true tamper-evident security tape. It is a fairly expensive product but the most important ally, because when removed, the tape leaves a message (e.g. "OPENED" or "VIOLATED") on both the tape and the box, or changes color/pattern.
A cheaper alternative is to use customized adhesive tape with your logo or a specific text, or at least a tape that is hard to find on the market. This makes it harder for a criminal to replace it with an identical one.
The important thing in this case is to buy an uncommon or unusual tape, or to spend a little more for customized tape, so that it becomes nearly impossible for a thief to restore the parcel.
A parcel in good condition, well closed and well sealed is harder to open discreetly, requires more effort, and is more likely to appear visibly compromised. For this reason, the second recommendation is to use strong cardboard boxes (double or triple corrugated cardboard).
It is especially useful to apply an “H” seal.
This means applying adhesive tape firmly on all openings and edges of the box, sealing the central seam and the two side joints, forming an H on the top and bottom of the parcel.
Many underestimate the importance of how the parcel is handed to the courier. Often they are given without even requesting a receipt, which the courier is required to provide. An excellent deterrent is taking a photo of the parcel at the moment it is handed over to the courier and requesting both a receipt and the courier’s name.
Unfortunately, theft often occurs in the departure or arrival warehouse, so this documentation is not a definitive measure, but it still helps greatly to prove—if the parcel arrives tampered with—that it was handed over in excellent packaging condition, and it allows us to apply more pressure on couriers.
We are convinced that by adopting all these precautions, the likelihood of a parcel being tampered with will drastically decrease, so we strongly encourage you to adopt them to avoid problems.
Our customer service is at your disposal from Tuesday to Saturday, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., via one of the following channels:
