21–30 of 170 posts
Very likely, it costs them less. Own citizens don’t drop their packages at cargo hubs, already sorted and payed for by wire transfer. Pickup, sorting and processing payments have costs.
Interestingly, this volume of shipping offers chances as well for (former) national postal services. In the Netherlands the privatised former national postal service is partnering with AliBaba to deliver goods in as little as two weeks from China to your (Dutch) doorstep (currently three to four weeks is common).
1: http://fortune.com/2015/03/11/united-nations-subsidy-chinese...
Economically, getting goods for as fraction of the former price to consumers for just 78million a year sounds like a fantastic deal.
> All of this is little comfort to McGrath, who chafes at the thought of the Postal Service helping Chinese merchants poach his customers. “All of us sellers are selling a lot of Chinese goods in America but at least we’re creating jobs, making money, and adding to the economy,” he said. “But when people buy direct from China that’s adding nothing to the American economy.” I understand the seller's frustration - thei…
Also the seller's claim that direct doesn't add anything to the economy is false. That surplus will be directed elsewhere, hopefully to something more productive than what has become an unnecessary intermediary.
Australia Post has long had the same problem with shipments from the US. They've recently opened a warehouse in Oregon, where they'll receive domestic US shipments, and deliver to you in Australia for a separate fee. https://shopmate.auspost.com.au
I imagine the labour cost is one contributor within Australia. Without volume, no one wants to be doing runs to the post office for a dollar.
With products from the US, I've routinely bought things from Amazon and shipped US-AU and saved money easily - hard drives, memory cards, and even things for which the shipping should make it cost prohibitive like a full-size baby pram.
Australia Post has long had the same problem with shipments from the US. They've recently opened a warehouse in Oregon, where they'll receive domestic US shipments, and deliver to you in Australia for a separate fee. https://shopmate.auspost.com.au
And shipments from Asia. I recently found something for sale in Australia: $15 plus $10 shipping within Australia. I bought the exact same product direct from China/HK and it was under $4 including international shipping . I imagine the labour cost is one contributor within Australia. Without volume, no one wants to be doing runs to the post office for a dollar. With products from the US, I've routinely bought things…
It's good for consumers, but also means the domestic e-commerce is severely underdeveloped.
I often thought the postal service SHOULD be a public service but it's publicly funded at a loss then no.
Think of it this way: every one of the 350 million americans chip in 0.22$ a year to get their iPhone cable for 1.80$ instead of 40$. Still sound bad?
USPS revenue yearly is over 70 billion aka a thousand times more. Their problem is the six billion accrual of unpaid mandatory retiree health payments. 80M is irrevelant.
> All of this is little comfort to McGrath, who chafes at the thought of the Postal Service helping Chinese merchants poach his customers. “All of us sellers are selling a lot of Chinese goods in America but at least we’re creating jobs, making money, and adding to the economy,” he said. “But when people buy direct from China that’s adding nothing to the American economy.” I understand the seller's frustration - thei…
All middle men are destined to be automated out by the system, if they add no value then sooner rather than later. However, people selling stuff online in niche markets are still somehow surviving, but sooner or later someone will figure out where they are hiding and get them too. It's all a matter of time.
The internet has allowed a new generation of middlemen to rise, providing the service at a lower cost.
eBay and Amazon are middlemen.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
And shipments from Asia. I recently found something for sale in Australia: $15 plus $10 shipping within Australia. I bought the exact same product direct from China/HK and it was under $4 including international shipping . I imagine the labour cost is one contributor within Australia. Without volume, no one wants to be doing runs to the post office for a dollar. With products from the US, I've routinely bought things…
It's the same in Europe. Local online merchants have no way to compete since just the national delivery costs multiple times the net price of a foreign import product. It's good for consumers, but also means the domestic e-commerce is severely underdeveloped.
It is by no means a fix but the government is not always making it as easy as you would like to skip on duties added to level the playing field. Postage aside, which is skewed by treaties, the main purpose of import tariffs is to offset labor costs which they do pretty well in my opinion.
I do have to say that in my experience buying from both China and local (Europe) the European product are always of higher quality if you buy cheap, even if the country of origin was China in the first place. Since that is not always needed, you buy China, otherwise local.