When it comes to shipping it is completely down to the value of the goods rather than the weight. This is to provide protection for our clients in case of a delivery mishap.
If there is a delivery mishap it is the merchant that is responsible, not the buyer. Therefore it is for your protection, not your customer's.
The merchant is responsible for ensuring that the clients receives the goods under law. Our main priority is that our clients gets the goods they need promptly and in the condition they were sent out.
In practise however if Royal Mail is used for compact but high value goods then when these 'fail' to arrive it is the clients that will suffer whilst it is being sorted out. In law a 'reasonable time' delivery (unless specified) is considered to be 30 days and Royal Mail does not consider an item to be actually missing until 15 days have passed. Whilst these parameters are acceptable for low value goods we do not consider this be acceptable for goods in excess of £10 as the client cannot make a claim for lost goods until after the Royal Mail's 15 day cut-off.
When an insured courier is used, there is first of all a tracking system which allows us to keep an eye on shipments if needed. Then there is insurance -what this means is that if damage is found and reported to us in within 24 hours, we can claim back against the courier and immediately arrange a replacement with very little delay. This is ultimately why it matters to the clients as any issue can be resolved quickly and simply.
If a client request that goods over £10 be sent via Royal Mail to save money then we will do this and only charge actual postal costs - however if anything happens we are then subject to Royal Mails terms. Also under Royal Mails terms of use it is the recipient that has to make the claim against them for lost goods not the sender.