By Robbie Whelan 

Shipping insurance for luxury goods is emerging as a thorny issue for logistics companies as they compete for business from e-commerce retailers.

Sales of personal luxury goods hit a record $271 billion in 2014 -- based on the exchange rate between the euro and the dollar at the end of 2014 -- consultancy Bain & Co. estimated in a May report. Sales of hard luxury items like watches and jewelry rose 2% from 2013, while sales of accessories like shoes and leather goods rose 4%.

Getting those items to customers is proving tricky. Delivery services often need to split luxury goods into small shipments to keep each package below the maximum insured value. Uber Technologies Inc. has struggled to maintain business arrangements with some clients, including online retailer Gilt Groupe Inc., because it was unable to insure high-price items sold through Gilt's online store.

Keeping e-commerce companies happy is key to Uber's chances of transforming itself into an "urban logistics" company that delivers not just people, but things. On Monday, the Journal reported that Uber is in talks for a new round of funding that would value the company at $50 billion or more, about the same size as shipping giant FedEx Corp.

United Parcel Service Inc. took steps Monday to make sure it doesn't face the same problems as Uber. UPS Capital, the financial-services arm of the shipping company, announced it would acquire Parcel Pro, a firm that provides insurance coverage for the transport of jewelry, wristwatches and other luxury goods. One benefit of the deal: UPS should be able to raise coverage limits for both domestic and international shipments of high-priced items.

Kevin Sterling, an analyst who covers UPS for BB&T Capital Markets, interpreted the move as a UPS preparing for an increased level of business flowing to UPS from luxury-goods distributors.

"My belief is that it's about scale," he said. "I think [UPS is] trying to get ahead of the curve."

Write to Robbie Whelan at robbie.whelan@wsj.com

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