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The original was posted on /r/Ultralight by /u/Gdhrocks11 on 2025-09-11 01:43:18+00:00.

It seems like more and more cottage gear companies (like ZPacks, Enlightened Equipment, Outdoor Vitals, Ripstop by the Roll, and Backcountry.com to name a few) are automatically adding a shipping insurance surcharge to your order at checkout of anywhere from 1-5% of your purchase price.

And in many cases this isn’t even actual insurance but it’s disguised as such. For example, Navidium (used by Outdoor Vitals) has this on their website (see below).

This seems very scammy to me and isn’t a good look for these companies. It’s sort of like having a restaurant add a 5% admin fee on your check to cover “admin costs”. Why not be transparent and just include these costs in your total shipping charge? And I know in most cases you can opt out, but that is Inconvenient and a little sketch. Any reputable company should be responsible for getting your order to your mailbox or doorstep without having to add a junk fee.

Does this bug anyone else, or am I being unreasonable here?

From Navidium’s site: “Shipping protection or package protection program designed to be managed in-house with no rev share. Navidium is a self-service platform designed to give you the tools to create a self-funded shipping protection plan and manage incoming claims from your customers. (We are not an insurance company, and do NOT underwrite plans.) You keep 100% of what is collected, and route shipping protection premiums to yourself instead of having a shipping insurance provider in the middle. What is left becomes profit. Upsell digital products, order protection, upsell cart checkout including subscriptions.”