What UPS Will Not Accept
UPS's terms and conditions of service for the United States list packages it does not accept. Under articles of unusual value they include:
- Coins, cash, currency, bonds, postage stamps, money orders and negotiable instruments.
- Any article that contains more than 50 percent gold or platinum by weight, or any combination of the two, in raw form, including bullion, bars and scrap.
UPS's wording says the list is not limited to these examples. Separately, its prohibited and restricted items page lists jewelry and gold or other precious metals as restricted for U.S. import and export, and loose precious stones and industrial diamonds as prohibited for U.S. import and restricted for U.S. export. Currency, other than coin, is prohibited for import and export.
The same page says articles of high or unusual value are accepted on a contractual basis for shippers with regular volume. If you ship valuables often, ask UPS whether a contract applies to your account.
Value Limits and the Declared Value Rules
Without a declaration of value, UPS's liability for a package is limited to $100, according to its value-added services sheet. The first $100 of declared value carries no charge, and a charge applies for each $100 above that.
UPS also caps the value of what it will carry. Its terms do not accept a package with an actual value of more than $50,000, or $70,000 for packages declared under its enhanced maximum declared value provisions, which carry their own conditions.
Handover matters as well. Packages valued at more than $999 cannot use Shipper Release, the option that lets a driver leave a package without a signature, and packages valued at $1,000 or more are restricted at third-party retailers and UPS Access Point locations.
International Jewelry Rules for UPS Express
UPS publishes a separate document on jewelry, stones and watches for international shipments. It applies to Express services only. Under its general limit, jewelry, watches, unset precious stones and industrial diamonds, but not costume items, can be declared at up to the local currency equivalent of $2,500 per package.
The document separates the value of the goods from the declared value. For jewelry sent from the United States it lists destinations where goods worth up to $50,000 are accepted, yet the declared value, which is the amount UPS covers, is capped well below that on the general limit.
Some countries add their own rules. UPS states that unset precious stones and industrial diamonds are prohibited to and from Belgium, and that unset or loose diamonds can only be cleared in China by government-approved brokers. Check the current document for your route.
Packaging, Labels and Handover Rules
UPS's terms set several rules that apply to jewelry shipments:
- Do not describe the contents. Shipments of high-value or high-risk goods, including jewelry, must not carry labels, markings, logos or any written notice of what is inside.
- Use new or near-new packaging, packed to UPS's published standards. UPS states that using its own packaging does not by itself mean an item is sufficiently packaged.
- For packages over $1,000 given to a UPS driver or a Customer Center, obtain a signed UPS high-value shipment summary.
- Avoid third-party retailer and Access Point drop-offs for packages valued at $1,000 or more.
- Keep photographs of the item and its packing, the invoice and the tracking number, because a claim needs proof.
What a UPS Claim Requires
UPS's terms treat claim deadlines as a condition of recovery. For domestic shipments, UPS must receive notice within sixty days after delivery, and the claim must be filed within nine months after delivery. International claims must be filed within sixty days, and any lawsuit must be brought within two years after a denial.
The notice must include the date of shipment, the tracking number and the nature of the loss or damage. UPS asks for an invoice that shows the value, evidence of payment of shipping and declared value charges, and a detailed description of the item. For damage claims it asks for photographs of the item as packed, the label and the outside of the box, and a signed high-value shipment summary may be required for claims of $1,000 or more.
A claim that is late or missing documents can be delayed or denied, so gather the paperwork when you ship, not after a loss.
What This Means for Your Jewelry Shipment
Take a necklace worth $20,000. With no declared value, UPS's liability for the package is limited to $100. Declaring the value raises that limit, within the maximums above and subject to UPS's terms.
Sent abroad with UPS Express, on routes where the general jewelry limit applies, the same necklace could be declared at only $2,500, which leaves $17,500 outside the declared value.
Separate full-value insurance is designed to close that gap. For a side-by-side look at how the major carriers treat valuables, see our carrier insurance comparison.
UPS Declared Value and Full-Value Insurance Compared
The table sets out how UPS's published terms differ from a separate insurance policy. The UPS column was checked against UPS's published pages in October 2026, and UPS can change its terms at any time.
| Feature | UPS declared value | Full-value insurance |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | A limit on UPS's liability, $100 by default | A separate contract with its own terms |
| Highest value | Packages over $50,000 are not accepted, or $70,000 under enhanced provisions | Covers the declared value, up to $150,000 with Unival |
| International jewelry | Express only, declared up to $2,500 per package on the general limit | Set by the policy and your quote |
| Not accepted | Coins, cash, currency and raw gold or platinum bullion, bars or scrap | Ask us how your shipment would be carried |
| Claim deadline | Notice within 60 days of delivery for domestic shipments | Set by the policy terms |
Where Unival Fits In
Unival specializes in shipments worth more than a carrier will pay for. Full-value insurance covers the declared value of the shipment up to $150,000, secure transportation is arranged for high-value goods, and every shipment is quoted before it moves, so you know the coverage and the price in advance.
If your shipment includes goods a carrier does not accept, such as bullion or cash, send the details through the quote form and we will confirm how it will be carried before anything ships. See our guides to insured jewelry shipping, insured watch shipping, insured precious metals shipping and high-value parcel shipping, our overview of insured high-value shipping, and our pages on shipping insurance cost and secure transport services.
UPS is a trademark of its owner. This page describes UPS's published terms as checked in October 2026, for information only. It is not an official UPS document or legal advice, and your account's contract may differ, so confirm the current terms before you ship.
