"will ship at buyer's risk and expense"

I steer way clear of ads that state that, because I take responsibility for the safe arrival of anything I sell.

One might not realise how many offers to buy there are from adds that emphasize--"Local pickup only".Of course it works if the prospective buyer "could" be coming over with dollars,in-hand.--- Then we have ship to "lower 48 ONLY",stated, and then have folk from China asking you to ship this item,to them. Obviously, these ain't adds for cables, either.-- I think intelligent folk can see/ understand what's at work here.--- The seller may not actually have a box of bricks 4sale.--- I have never stated in an add "will ship---.

I would interpret this to mean simply that the buyer pays for the cost of shipping and the cost of insurance. The buyer takes the risk of damage in transit, since the buyer is the insured party.

Nathanu

The buyer is not the insured party...he's only paying for it.

Dave

It is true, it is the seller's responsibility to file damage claims but the buyer has to cooperate with information and maybe pictures. I once bought a piece that that was supposedly damaged in shipment and the seller said, "These things happen, but it was fine when it left here. Go ahead and see if you can get an insurance claim." After much machination, I got things settled another way, and came to find that the seller never took out the insurance. Terrible!

There is only one instance in which I've ever said something similar to a buyer and that is when a buyer says they wanted to buy and will pay for shipping but NOT for insurance. Usually, after saying that it is then their risk if damaged and that I would need their agreement to this in writing before I'll ship, insurance seems a better idea to them.