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No More Cheap Shipping for Chinese Sellers

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Re: No More Cheap Shipping for Chinese Sellers

#201

Post by adventured »

wincy wrote: post #77
dmix wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What is the UPU and how'd they get this power?

There’s a really excellent planet money podcast about this. Back when the US was a major exporter the UPU was great for US merchants. https://www.npr.org/sections/money/2018/08/01/634737852/epis...

> Back when the US was a major exporter the UPU was great for US merchants.

The US is the world's #2 exporter. $1.57 trillion versus $2.15 trillion for China. China's figure peaked a few years ago, the US is likely to narrow that gap, especially with US energy exports continuing to ramp up. US exports of goods are near an all-time high after adjusting for inflation.

Re: No More Cheap Shipping for Chinese Sellers

#202

Post by ceejayoz »

reallydude wrote: post #194
ceejayoz wrote: post #156

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If fiscal responsibility were the goal, they'd have required the other federal agencies to do the same. That this specifically targets one of the few agencies ripe for potential privatization is... suspicious. Even if it made fiscal sense, the sudden switch is problematic.

> If fiscal responsibility were the goal, they'd have required the other federal agencies to do the same That's not how the Federal government works. It's a LARGE organization that sometimes have people with philosophies align. There is no chance that the military would prefund pensions. I think that, toward the initiative to make the USPS free of subsidy now and in the future, it made perfect sense. The USPS workers…

OK, let's reword that a bit.

Why didn't the same Congressional Republicans who pushed through the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act of 2006 push for similar changes to how other federal agencies fund their pensions?

Why won't the military pre-fund pensions? Why shouldn't they do the same "fiscally responsible" thing for veterans benefits?

Re: No More Cheap Shipping for Chinese Sellers

#203

Post by orthecreedence »

lordnacho wrote: post #192
orthecreedence wrote: post #176

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Don't confuse "leftism" for "authoritarian" or "welfare capitalism." I advocate neither.

I think it's the word "rabid" that carries a certain cartoonish meaning. But I don't think I mentioned authoritarianism.

> I think it's the word "rabid" that carries a certain cartoonish meaning

It does, I agree =]

Re: No More Cheap Shipping for Chinese Sellers

#204

Post by jarfil »

tracer4201 wrote: post #163
magduf wrote: post #5

This actually sounds like a good thing. It costs Chinese shippers almost nothing to send stuff directly from China, while it costs me quite a lot to send stuff within the US, largely because I'm subsidizing all the Chinese shippers. Moreover, for me to send any parcel (even very small ones, like 2 oz.) outside the US costs a small fortune these days, again because I'm subsidizing the Chinese shippers.

I don’t have the background on this - help me understand why or how it’s cheaper for goods to ship cheaper from China than shipping within the US? The US taxpayer is subsidizing this? I’m shocked and confused.

It's cheaper to ship 10,000 items in a single container, than to ship each one separately, which is why mail carriers bundle items together (in bags, vans, containers, etc) instead of handling them separately all the way.

Domestic mail is like sending separate items, which get bundled together, then un-bundled again to deliver them to their final destination. All these steps happen at domestic wages, and at best with medium volumes. If there are not enough items to fill a container, it's still getting sent some other (more expensive) way.

Items from China get bundled by lower wage workers, the bundles are sent by lowest priority freight (usually a 7-45 day delay), bundles are only sent when fully filled in order to minimize costs per item, and sorted to minimize un-bundling costs.

This won't change no matter what, it's just economy of scale.

There are other factors like the reduced shipping costs for China set by the UN, or the fact that some will ship items at a loss just to convert Yuan to USD through Hong Kong, but ultimately the production vs. consumption imbalance is what decides most of this.

Re: No More Cheap Shipping for Chinese Sellers

#205

Post by lgats »

ikeboy wrote: post #185
Shivetya wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

being a buyer off ebay what always surprised me is the next to nothing if not free shipping from China. It is good to see it changing as an article from 2014 [1] indicated how the USPS is getting soaked for the shipping on our side of the ocean. if this is fallout from the trade issues it honestly is the only good outcome of them [1] https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/storyline/wp/2014/09/12/...

Note that the program described there, ePacket, is now profitable for the USPS. It took them a few years to scale up but it's been profitable for years now.

Source?

Re: No More Cheap Shipping for Chinese Sellers

#206

Post by lonelappde »

Scoundreller wrote: post #68
magduf wrote: post #5

This actually sounds like a good thing. It costs Chinese shippers almost nothing to send stuff directly from China, while it costs me quite a lot to send stuff within the US, largely because I'm subsidizing all the Chinese shippers. Moreover, for me to send any parcel (even very small ones, like 2 oz.) outside the US costs a small fortune these days, again because I'm subsidizing the Chinese shippers.

> Moreover, for me to send any parcel (even very small ones, like 2 oz.) outside the US costs a small fortune these days, again because I'm subsidizing the Chinese shippers. International shipping was expensive before China flooded the market b2c. If you sent a pkg to China, the US would only have to drop it off in China, the last mile delivery cost is mostly up to China. The actual air freight cost to USPS is about…

A long time ago, USPS signed an insane sweetheart deal for free shipping from China, thinking that it would help US companies ship to China. But for many reasons (labor laws, environmental laws, go subsidies) outsidee of shipping costs, US-China post package shipping (not heavy industry whatever), is absolutely massively imbalanced. Chinese shippers massive privilege over US domestic shippers (shipping to ISo customers) was the main side effect. US shipping costs more than Chinese manufacturer + shipping, despite shipping from China being obviously more expensive in real world resources.

Re: No More Cheap Shipping for Chinese Sellers

#207

Post by Pigo »

magduf wrote: post #5

This actually sounds like a good thing. It costs Chinese shippers almost nothing to send stuff directly from China, while it costs me quite a lot to send stuff within the US, largely because I'm subsidizing all the Chinese shippers. Moreover, for me to send any parcel (even very small ones, like 2 oz.) outside the US costs a small fortune these days, again because I'm subsidizing the Chinese shippers.

Maybe it is anecdotal, but whenever I order anything from China on Amazon, it takes exponentially longer to receive my product. Once I got Christmas items that I ordered in November the following March. There was no recourse when it happened either.

I know it's a long distance, but it's substantially longer than orders I've made from other parts of the world. So I avoid purchasing from there.

Re: No More Cheap Shipping for Chinese Sellers

#208

Post by Scoundreller »

mistermann wrote: post #181
Scoundreller wrote: post #142

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It’s just not going to be a boon to US drop-shippers, the Chinese ones will still have a lower cost of operations by dealing direct and almost 100% Chinese labour costs.

You seem to be completely overlooking the fact that it is way cheaper to ship an item from China to a specific location in the US, than it is to ship the same item from within the US.

It’ll be good for the USPS (or maybe not if people just order off Amazon and they deliver), but the benefits to US jobs will be oversold.

Re: No More Cheap Shipping for Chinese Sellers

#210

Post by burnte »

morpheuskafka wrote: post #167
tasty_freeze wrote: post #130

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The USPS does have a special relationship, but it isn't a one way street. First, it isn't a monopoly -- there are many other shippers competing in the profitable segments of the market. Second, USPS is obligated to service every location in the US, and at government-controlled prices. USPS will deliver, door to door, a letter from Nowhere, MT to Remote, GA for $0.55, even though they take a loss on it. Try to get Fed…

Perhaps you should look at USPS Publication 542, https://about.usps.com/publications/pub542/welcome.htm , which describes how they have a monopoly and the power to levy what amounts to a tax on anyone that competes in a prohibited way.

the commenter acknowledged that, and pointed out that there are responsibilities that come with their privileges.
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