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No More Cheap Shipping for Chinese Sellers

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Re: No More Cheap Shipping for Chinese Sellers

#331

Post by romaaeterna »

adventured wrote: post #186
tracer4201 wrote: post #163

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 a UN-based forced rate subsidy for developing nations that China still benefits from. "According to the U.S. Postal Service, it costs around $20 to mail a small parcel weighing 4.4 pounds from one U.S. state to another, yet mailing the same package from China only costs about $5." "The Universal Postal Union, a United Nations agency that sets postal rates among its 192-member countries, dictates USPS's artificia…

Parent is correct, despite being grayed currently by downvoting. UPU is an international postal treaty organization that was subsumed into the UN. Every country used to have conclude treaties with every other country (read Anthony Trollope's autobiography for a fine account of his negotiation of one such treaty between the the US and Britain). China has gamed the system on this rule, so the US is forced to threaten withdrawal to fix it.

Re: No More Cheap Shipping for Chinese Sellers

#332

Post by magduf »

anon_cow1111 wrote: post #180
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/...

Noticed this direct shipping years ago, the first time it took weeks for a small part to be delivered. I think the absurdly low cost reveals just how much you can jam into a shipping container for the current flat rate. Weirder when you think about it from a fuel efficiency perspective; it probably takes a few drops of diesel to move a t-shirt 5000 miles. Edit: NOTE- if you still buy stuff on ebay, be sure to check t…

>Weirder when you think about it from a fuel efficiency perspective; it probably takes a few drops of diesel to move a t-shirt 5000 miles.

Yep, try looking up the fuel efficiency number for shipping freight by boat, train, or airplane. It's really amazing just how efficient boats are. There's a good reason our distant ancestors had worldwide trade routes centuries or even millennia ago using boats.

Re: No More Cheap Shipping for Chinese Sellers

#333

Post by inferiorhuman »

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?

With USPS it will depend largely on how you send it. Priority Mail will be expensive (and fairly quick). A first class package (if you're within the limits) can be much cheaper if you don't mind the lack of tracking.

I mailed some 8x10s overseas in a rigid envelope and my friend swore up and down it would be too expensive ($30+). I think in the end it cost under $10 per envelope. Meanwhile international postcards from Germany were like 2€.

Re: No More Cheap Shipping for Chinese Sellers

#334

Post by Taniwha »

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…

As I understand it (and even though I live in NZ I manufacture in China and ship all over the world from there) much of the airmail shipping from China is essentially founded on arbitrage of the empty space in air-mail shipping containers from Asia to the West - it's while it takes a while and sometimes your package goes out of Hong Kong, sometimes Singapore etc

In essence those packets are cheap because some smart person is buying up the empty space in containers that are already going and filling them - I assume that Air-Mail FROM the US could be equally cheap if someone was entrepreneurial enough to do the same there

Re: No More Cheap Shipping for Chinese Sellers

#335

Post by Scoundreller »

sudosteph wrote: post #291
Scoundreller wrote: post #154

Would any other Americans prefer to have just 3x/week delivery and still have cheap shipping internationally? This seems to be more about propping up the USPS’ inefficiencies at the cost of higher prices for consumers.

Not me. I had a neighbor for while who worked full-time for USPS. Postal workers provide reliable service, and are able to earn a livable wage without driving themselves into the ground like the contractor delivery services. I like that USPS is a piece of the American infrastructure fabric, and I like that it employs local people in a sustainable way. I do not consume nearly enough things that require international s…

It’s great that the USPS employs people that way.

The real question is why are others allowed to do any differently.

Buyers voting with their feet will only go so far.

Re: No More Cheap Shipping for Chinese Sellers

#336

Post by magduf »

hashkb wrote: post #218
Pigo wrote: post #207

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

It's very common to get (large) items via DHL from mainland China to SF in less than a week. The US simply doesn't manufacture the same set of items. Raising the cost to order items from China for political reasons will just hurt existing business. There's no alternative, I have a choice to pay more or not buy.

It's not about manufacturing, it's about shipping to end customers. Anything involving the USPS will have almost nothing to do with business-related shipping (b2b). Businesses don't ship stuff to each other with small packets, they ship large quantities in bulk. If you're worried about hurting existing businesses in the US, then stop worrying: US-based businesses aren't dependent on cheap postage from China on Aliexpress. Companies ordering parts from China are getting them shipped in shipping containers, or by DHL/Fedex, not by the USPS in < 1-lb packages.

Re: No More Cheap Shipping for Chinese Sellers

#337

Post by ddeck »

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?

I recently returned a 13 inch laptop to Amazon from Hong Kong after they sent 2 and it was around $120 (reimbursed by Amazon - the original Amazon delivery charge was ~$18).

$370 did sound particularly egregious, but I just checked UPS' online quote site[1] and got a quote of $311-394 for a 5 pound, A1 sized package from California to Paris.

In my experience in Asia, Fedex, UPS, DHL etc. provide substantial discounts to customers with accounts, but one-off quotes to the US/Europe are typically very expensive.

[1] https://www.ups.com/mobile/quoteService

Re: No More Cheap Shipping for Chinese Sellers

#338

Post by kennywinker »

sorryitstrue wrote: post #196

Now canada can become the shipping hub for epackets and it can be forwarded to US addresses from there. Good opportunity for someone.

shipping from canada to the usa is fairly expensive and slow (customs delays are fairly common). better to ship to a depo in the usa and mail out from there to individual buyers.

Re: No More Cheap Shipping for Chinese Sellers

#339

Post by Scoundreller »

Kadin wrote: post #288
Scoundreller wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The actual consequence will be Chinese sellers using US warehouses and drop-shipping from there. Others send over a container with each ordered good and slap a local post’s label on it. Possibly that local post’s label is attached in China and the container just gets dropped off at a USPS DC by the private freight forwarder. It’s already fairly common. Overall, a few more US jobs, and maybe more USPS revenue for what…

Nothing wrong with that. If a Chinese company wants to ship things over in bulk, break them up here in the US and ship them via the USPS, more power to them. They'll need to incorporate in the US, pay taxes in the US, probably rent space in a US warehouse, and generally play by the same set of rules as a US company that buys stuff from China and imports it for sale would. I'm all for having a level playing field; the…

I think the air/sea container will arrive in the US and go straight to the USPS DC, bypassing the US incorporation, US taxes, and US warehouse.

They will pay higher USPS rates, but that’s about it.

Re: No More Cheap Shipping for Chinese Sellers

#340

Post by kennywinker »

notatoad wrote: post #144
dmix wrote: post #48

I almost never order stuff from China here in Canada because its very expensive to ship anything and inconsistently takes forever or semi-forever. I was wondering how Wish.com made money...

This is not a us-specific situation, e-packet deliveries ship to Canada too. I get plenty of stuff from AliExpress with free shipping

living in canada, I genuinely hope we follow suit and increase the cost of shipping from china to canada. It's encouraging incredibly wasteful buying patterns, and sets up a system canadian companies can NEVER compete with.
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