I’ve had a similar thing happen to me recently. 500$ tariff on $130 of stuff. The tariff should have been like $20. UPS has been completely non responsive and still won’t show me the customs forms. Total scam.
When UPS charged me a $684 tariff on $355 of vintage computer parts
121–130 of 316 posts
Re: When UPS charged me a $684 tariff on $355 of vintage computer parts
#122I hate UPS with the passion of a thousand dying suns.
I've long since opted to pay more to use DHL whenever I can, but a lot of Chinese suppliers simply won't deal with anyone except UPS. Drives me nuts.
Re: When UPS charged me a $684 tariff on $355 of vintage computer parts
#123Earlier quoted context omitted.
Its scary how many things Trump says, claims that are roughly equivalent to, "1 + 2 = 4", which people just eat up as truth! It feels like all the deficets in our education system (going back decades) are finally coming to roost... so many people lack critical thinking skills and media savvy/awareness. I think its too late to fix it, now that a sufficient majority of people are susceptible to this deception, and a su…
Education isn't the problem with Trump voters, stupidity is. Remember that this is his second term. Every American voter had the benefit of four years of "education" regarding Trump's character and competence. A majority of them responded by freely and enthusiastically demanding four more such years.
There's an outright attack on education as well though.
The fact that you can become a teacher in Florida without a degree just by being a veteran [1] comes as a result of an exodus of teachers because there has been an outright attack on education institutions. The reasons "why" have been debated but ultimately it is abundantly clear that the issue isn't just stupidity, but also the very act of education itself.
There has been a concerted effort by conservatives to tell the public that modern universities are giant "woke propaganda" factories. I was an adjunct in 2022 and 2023, and I must have missed the memo where I was told to instruct every student to get a sex change, but this didn't stop my idiotic grandmother from saying that "even computer science students get woke indoctrination".
But of course, this isn't a recent thing. I remember when I was younger, conservatives would spend a lot of time taking scientific studies out of context to talk about how we're wasting grant money [2].
The "treadmills for shrimp" is a good example: anyone who spent ten seconds actually doing research on this would see that the "treadmills" actually aren't stupid and they're measuring metabolism, and I am quite confident that the people who started spreading this propaganda knew this, so it's an active lie. I'm sure they think they're doing it for good reasons, but this isn't about "stupidity" at this point, it is an outright attack on research and science.
[1] https://apnews.com/article/fact-check-florida-law-education-...
[2] https://www.npr.org/2011/08/23/139852035/shrimp-on-a-treadmi...
Re: When UPS charged me a $684 tariff on $355 of vintage computer parts
#124Earlier quoted context omitted.
I know one US business that used to make niche electronic product. Most components they used were from China. Got hit by the tariffs that wiped all the operating profit. Guy also had to sell his home and is now couchsurfing. Business is unlikely going to recover. Of course he considered making chips and other components in the US, but he was few billions short to start the fab.
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Why exactly is China an enemy? They want to increase their standard of living and expand their sphere of influence. That doesn't have to hurt the US directly. What it may undermine is the idea that the US gets to unilaterally steer the developed world.
On the other hand, perhaps that's a burden the US should be excited about tossing off. It's expensive to be the World Police, and it's left them with a lot of strained reputation and burnt-through leverage. It also requires them to do a lot of "lead by example" stuff that they seem completely disinterested in (industrial policy, forming consensus, trying to present as a magnanimous moral model).
Re: When UPS charged me a $684 tariff on $355 of vintage computer parts
#125I had to pay a tariff charge of about $20 on an order of about $100 that I had placed about a year or so prior to this whole tariff bullshit. The idea that the president can decide to tariff whatever the fuck he wants is something that needs to go, since it's essentially levying taxes without representation. If somehow the current admin can't refund the money they stole from people then every single person involved s…
I bought a semi-custom instrument from Germany back in the spring of 2024, about $1800 (a Sandberg electric bass). But there was a year-long back log. The timing was perfect -- they told me it was ready to ship just when the tariffs went into effect, which cost me an extra $250 or so.
Re: When UPS charged me a $684 tariff on $355 of vintage computer parts
#126I had this happen with FedEx. They released the package and delivered it without me paying. I submitted a dispute, which they say could take up to 6 months to process. I hate having this hang over my head, as I don’t want anything going to collections, but figured if I paid it I would have a harder time getting my money back. Mine was for a watch I got serviced. My own watch that I shipped out being returned to me… n…
> I should have just risked getting it serviced locally… Sounds like tariffs working as intended?
It more likely would have been the second option, “or not done it at all.”
Re: When UPS charged me a $684 tariff on $355 of vintage computer parts
#127Earlier quoted context omitted.
I understand your sentiment, but I feel like your position is somewhat simplistic, and the actual situation is more complicated. First, overall, the US has increased manufacturing output over the last couple decades. 2019 was the highest year ever, covid interupted a bit, but levels are back there again. However the number of people involved has dropped a lot. US manufacturing prefers automation and prefers to manufa…
... "cheap" is the main metric consumers care about because whenever anything can be supplied for less, the Federal Reserve calls that "deflationary" and creates enough new money to make sure prices go up to erase those gains. So the cost of buying anything isn't bottom of the barrel keeps going up in real terms. Most people can afford to swim against the current in one product category, and some people [the affluent…
Dang it no! That isn’t remotely how deflationary works.
There’s always things being supplied for at lower prices. That is what product or service improvements do.
Your car is vastly safer than a Ford Model T. Air bags, better brakes, power steering, AC - all of which make it a vastly superior vehicle. If inflation worked the way you implied, the price of it would have constantly gone up, and never would it have managed to be affordable.
Firms reduce the cost of production and get to sell more to larger numbers of consumers. Total revenue = $ value * N customers.
You expand further on your position in the second part of your para, but that is fundamentally about how wages have not gone up over time. Which has nothing to do with inflation. It has MUCH more to do with the labor markets, and the pay people are getting for their labor.
Re: When UPS charged me a $684 tariff on $355 of vintage computer parts
#128Earlier quoted context omitted.
a purported niche/low-volume electronics, but the profit is somehow dependent on BOM price? a tariff bump on a small BOM doesn’t take you from profitable to homeless. if that happened, the business already had seriously bad margins, bad cash flow, over-leverage, or maybe he was just doing it out of love getting paid maybe back for his time or not. tariffs might’ve hurt, but they don’t collapse a healthy niche hardwar…
Hardware companies often operate on a relatively thin margin, especially as compared to say, software companies. Let's say a companies margin was 40%. The cost of their constituent parts doubles due to tariffs, they are no longer making money as a result. I hope this helps explain it for you.
It's more complicated than that.
For example, the company can raise its prices. How well that works depends on whether there is competition for the company's product. If the competition is also hit by the tariffs, then they're on an even playing field. If the competition is using native parts, then the competitor gets the business.
Re: When UPS charged me a $684 tariff on $355 of vintage computer parts
#129Earlier quoted context omitted.
a purported niche/low-volume electronics, but the profit is somehow dependent on BOM price? a tariff bump on a small BOM doesn’t take you from profitable to homeless. if that happened, the business already had seriously bad margins, bad cash flow, over-leverage, or maybe he was just doing it out of love getting paid maybe back for his time or not. tariffs might’ve hurt, but they don’t collapse a healthy niche hardwar…
Do you run a business with good margin, good cash flow, optimally leveraged and for profit? If yes, please tell us more about how tariffs have helped you.
If you've been making the products locally, the tariffs on foreign products help you.
Re: When UPS charged me a $684 tariff on $355 of vintage computer parts
#130Earlier quoted context omitted.
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Why exactly is China an enemy? They want to increase their standard of living and expand their sphere of influence. That doesn't have to hurt the US directly. What it may undermine is the idea that the US gets to unilaterally steer the developed world. On the other hand, perhaps that's a burden the US should be excited about tossing off. It's expensive to be the World Police, and it's left them with a lot of strained…
Your sarcasm detector failed