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Postal Arbitrage

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Re: Postal Arbitrage

#221

Post by stevage »

TrackerFF wrote: post #214

I used to import a lot of stuff from the US to Norway. I lived all the way up in northern Norway, so parcels would take roughly 5 working days from Oslo to where I lived. Domestic overnight mail / express mail was prohibitively expensive, something equivalent to $150 for small items. However, if I ordered something via USPS International Express, those items would automatically be shipped as overnight / express mail…

Yeah in Australia I remember seeing a lot of small electronic items on eBay that were $1 shipped from Hong Kong or China. You literally could not post a letter within Australia for that price.

Re: Postal Arbitrage

#222

Post by tallanvor »

TrackerFF wrote: post #214

I used to import a lot of stuff from the US to Norway. I lived all the way up in northern Norway, so parcels would take roughly 5 working days from Oslo to where I lived. Domestic overnight mail / express mail was prohibitively expensive, something equivalent to $150 for small items. However, if I ordered something via USPS International Express, those items would automatically be shipped as overnight / express mail…

I'm guessing you quit after the small value toll exemption was removed?

Re: Postal Arbitrage

#223

Post by sgerenser »

euroderf wrote: post #164
jonpurdy wrote: post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In Canada, you can place a red dot (or write no unsolicited mail) on your mailbox and they will withhold delivering anything not directly addressed to you. I was shocked when I moved to SF and found out there was no way to opt out of unaddressed mail (or "current resident").

In Finland AFAICT there's no bulk postal rate. Instead, paper spam is delivered thru mail slots by private services that hit all the buildings in the neighborhood and drop collections of paper spam. So, many people post a note on their door opting out from this stuff. (Ei mainoksia = No ads.) It must be saving absolutely huge amounts of paper.

Fun fact: in the U.S. it’s illegal to put anything but mail (delivered by USPS) in a mailbox or mail slot. USPS wants a monopoly on that paper spam.

Re: Postal Arbitrage

#224

Post by mattmaroon »

kergonath wrote: post #194
hattmall wrote: post #192

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, as someone else pointed out, the gig-delivery services killed the delivery industry. Sure I can get food from a bunch of shitty fast food places now, but deliveries are way more expensive and take forever. The only place that still does good delivery around me is Jimmy Johns and Dominoes. I used to have 15-20 good quality delivery places that were fast with free delivery. And I'm as talking on the phone averse…

> Uber eats / Door Dash suck so much I have no desire to order delivery food at all other than the two that run their own delivery and I know it will be a consistent experience. Same. It’s about the only reason why I order from Dominos occasionally. But last week it got delivered by Uber even though I ordered directly on their website. It also took 45 minutes to get delivered instead of the usual 10. So now the only…

Dominos lets people order from Uber Eats but still handles delivery itself. Maybe they fall back to Uber drivers when they are short staffed.

I don’t know of any restaurants that previously had delivery of their own and switched. I’m sure they exist but it’s vanishingly small, for the reasons outlined.

So all DoorDash does is give you the consumer more options. If you don’t like it, you don’t use it and nobody is harmed.

Only a small percent of restaurants delivered in the first place outside of the ones like pizza that still do.

Re: Postal Arbitrage

#225

Post by systemtest »

sudobash1 wrote: post #19

I feel I should point out that USPS has a lower rate for postcards (currently $0.61), so the threshold might be a bit lower. I know that this is tongue-in-cheek and would be pretty funny to receive, but it isn't an apples-to-apples comparison. The experience of getting a little message printed on receipt paper is nothing like the experience of receiving a note or card in the mail. Through the mail you receive somethi…

How can it be that low? The Netherlands has a stamp rate of €1.40 for 20 grams and you can traverse that country in three hours. 20 to 50 grams is €2.80. If you have to cross a border that goes up to €4.22

Can you send a letter thousands of miles for only 61 cents? That's amazing!

Re: Postal Arbitrage

#227

Post by jedimastert »

BobbyTables2 wrote: post #156
shagie wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

https://climate.mit.edu/explainers/freight-transportation > While nearly three-quarters of the world’s cargo is carried by ocean-going ships, road vehicles like trucks and vans make up the majority, 65%, of freight’s emissions. Most ships burn fossil fuels and emit carbon, but they carry large amounts of freight at the same time, making them the most efficient way to move cargo. Road freight, however, can emit more t…

Not disagreeing but it’s amazing a ship plowing water out of the way is so much more efficient. Perhaps trains beat road transport efficiency to a similar degree.

They do, trains are BAFFLINGLY fuel efficient in terms of pounds of cargo. Once they get up to speed, trains can move one ton of cargo about 480 mile per gallon, vs 130 with trucks

Re: Postal Arbitrage

#230

Post by doikor »

BobbyTables2 wrote: post #156
shagie wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

https://climate.mit.edu/explainers/freight-transportation > While nearly three-quarters of the world’s cargo is carried by ocean-going ships, road vehicles like trucks and vans make up the majority, 65%, of freight’s emissions. Most ships burn fossil fuels and emit carbon, but they carry large amounts of freight at the same time, making them the most efficient way to move cargo. Road freight, however, can emit more t…

Not disagreeing but it’s amazing a ship plowing water out of the way is so much more efficient. Perhaps trains beat road transport efficiency to a similar degree.

> Perhaps trains beat road transport efficiency to a similar degree.

Not just efficiency but you can use electric trains if your tracks are electrified. Add into that electricity production system that is mostly renewable+nuclear (the Nordics for example) and you get very very low emissions.

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