No More Cheap Shipping for Chinese Sellers • Hacker News Board

Re: No More Cheap Shipping for Chinese Sellers

#311

Post by nkurz » Tue, Aug 27, 2019, 5:59 PM UTC

towelrod wrote: post #255

nkurz wrote: post #2

Here's a good background article, but I worried it was too political to submit directly: "On October 17, 2018, President Trump announced that the United States will withdraw from the Universal Postal Union (UPU), an intergovernmental organization that sets the rules and rates for international mail delivery. The decision to withdraw has been widely seen as another salvo in the Trump administration’s campaign against…

That post, like everything else I can find about this news, is a year old. Did this really happen?

I think the summary is that it hasn't happened yet, but it's proceeding on schedule to happen at the end of September 2019.

Re: No More Cheap Shipping for Chinese Sellers

#312

Post by duskwuff » Tue, Aug 27, 2019, 5:59 PM UTC

zone411 wrote: post #304

duskwuff wrote: post #191

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Fully funding pensions out to 50 years in the future goes beyond "fiscally responsible". Consider that the nominal working lifetime of an employee is only 47 years (18 - 65) -- they're being required to fund pensions for hypothetical employees who are still in high school.

Postal workers' retirement age is 55-57 ( https://about.usps.com/manuals/elm/html/elmc5_058.htm ).

Oh, ha -- so then change "high school" for "grade school". Either way, it seems ridiculous to require a pension to be fully funded years before its beneficiary is even hired.

Re: No More Cheap Shipping for Chinese Sellers

#313

Post by sealthedeal » Tue, Aug 27, 2019, 6:02 PM UTC

What is the exact reason for all of this? Is this part of the current administration's "trade war" tactics? Or is it something less politically motivated?

Re: No More Cheap Shipping for Chinese Sellers

#314

Post by [deleted] » Tue, Aug 27, 2019, 6:02 PM UTC

hbosch wrote: post #290

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 bought a A1 sized picture frame from a french seller for around $50 on Amazon. It was a total pain getting an affordable frame in A1 size, because the best we can get easily in America is a 24x36" which is just far enough off to be unusable. When it arrived, it had some damage to the acrylic and I wanted to return it. Amazon Support said they would reimburse me up to $20 for shipping it back, but when I took it to…

[deleted]

Re: No More Cheap Shipping for Chinese Sellers

#315

Post by rossdavidh » Tue, Aug 27, 2019, 6:03 PM UTC

figgyc wrote: post #306

Really what needs to happen is that the UPU in general needs to be redefined. The Chinese sellers can still access Europe, Canada, and basically anywhere else, which isn't going to stop especially since most countries are not as aggressive as the US when it comes to China trade. Hopefully the reduction in sales due to the US leaving the UPU kills off a bunch of the Chinese businesses but it is definitely still going…

While I would be happy to see a more equitable and sustainable distribution of jobs and industries between the U.S. and China, the phrase "Hopefully...kills off a bunch of the Chinese businesses" uses language which is a bit off-putting. If those businesses changed their business model to sell more to Chinese consumers, or utilized U.S. distributors more, that would be good.

I realize that you were not actually suggesting that anybody should get killed, just pointing out how it sounded from my perspective, a little off-putting.

Re: No More Cheap Shipping for Chinese Sellers

#316

Post by Griffinsauce » Tue, Aug 27, 2019, 6:03 PM UTC

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.

You don't really think any prices are going to go down right?

Re: No More Cheap Shipping for Chinese Sellers

#317

Post by Der_Einzige » Tue, Aug 27, 2019, 6:03 PM UTC

reaperducer wrote: post #244

DiogenesKynikos wrote: post #239

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When does China claim to be a developed nation? Also, is there any reasonable metric by which China is not a developing economy?

is there any reasonable metric by which China is not a developing economy? Here's one: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_GDP_(nomi... Here's another: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_GDP_(PPP)

You should have posted GDP per capita, not just total GDP.

Re: No More Cheap Shipping for Chinese Sellers

#318

Post by coolspot » Tue, Aug 27, 2019, 6:06 PM UTC

wbl wrote: post #101

LeifCarrotson wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In terms of dollars per unit weight moved, yes. They are not only moving massive amounts of cargo with low drag, they're also relatively lightweight compared to the product being moved. Also, there's no maintenance cost to keeping a flat path across the Pacific like there is in keeping roads free of potholes. In terms of environmental damage, not at all. Container ships burn some of the nastiest, most sulphrous and d…

Sulfur dioxide emissions at sea are not that damaging compared to in land. They did make some zero emission cargo ships but it was pretty expensive due to crew complement for the reactor.

Interesting. There is only one operational cargo ship powered by a nuclear reactor - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sevmorput

Re: No More Cheap Shipping for Chinese Sellers

#319

Post by xster » Tue, Aug 27, 2019, 6:07 PM UTC

jrockway wrote: post #126

The impression I get from that thread is that the dream here is now Americans can do what they do best, sit in the middle of transactions and collect rent. Previously, you could go to a Chinese website and have the Chinese factory send you a widget directly to your door. Now that will be too expensive, but hey we have a solution! An American will order a bunch of widgets in bulk, ship them over in a cargo ship, come…

I'm actually pretty curious how this could niche cultural phenomena like electric skateboards or mechanical keyboards hobbyists where it's all about low volume customized shipping from Shenzhen. Maybe this will force consolidation of individual consumer tastes into things like Massdrop.

Re: No More Cheap Shipping for Chinese Sellers

#320

Post by Griffinsauce » Tue, Aug 27, 2019, 6:07 PM UTC

leshow wrote: post #310

hbosch wrote: post #290

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I bought a A1 sized picture frame from a french seller for around $50 on Amazon. It was a total pain getting an affordable frame in A1 size, because the best we can get easily in America is a 24x36" which is just far enough off to be unusable. When it arrived, it had some damage to the acrylic and I wanted to return it. Amazon Support said they would reimburse me up to $20 for shipping it back, but when I took it to…

I find that price hard to believe. Has anybody else had an experience like this?

In my experience shipping prices from the US to EU are ludicrous. So much so that I'm surprised they have any business. This doesn't sound outside of the realm of possibility to me.