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Postal Arbitrage

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Re: Postal Arbitrage

#241

Post by Majromax »

xg15 wrote: post #198
mhink wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Note: the Verge article links to this blog post, describing the situation in more detail: https://www.readmargins.com/p/doordash-and-pizza-arbitrage

Maybe that's my EU mindset, but I'm baffled how it's even legal to add a company to your public listing - complete with fake phone number - and just declare they're taking deliveries, all against the explicit wishes of the company. (Complete with "chill bro, I was just joking demand testing you" at the end) The blogger calls this being "tricked" to sign up for DoorDash. Seems to me, this is the same way a burglar "tr…

It could be a trademark violation, even in the US, under the argument that DoorDash was “passing itself off” as the infringed-upon company. However, DoorDash would then argue that it was being honest – it was genuinely delivering authentic goods. It could violate trademark no more than a convenience store violates a trademark by correctly claiming it sells Coca-Cola.

Re: Postal Arbitrage

#242

Post by systemtest »

mechazawa wrote: post #234
systemtest wrote: post #225

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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!

afaik PostNL has to make a profit and the USPS can operate at a loss. Classic Dutch privatization

PostNL is a private company that used to be government owned. PostNL currently operates at a loss for mail delivery. They are mandated by law to deliver mail and that is something they can't get out of. There is not a maximum what PostNL can ask for stamps but the ACM (Authority Consumer & Market) can step in if they raise prices too much.

So it appears to be privatised but with strict government regulations.

Re: Postal Arbitrage

#243

Post by systemtest »

astura wrote: post #239
systemtest wrote: post #225

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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!

>Can you send a letter thousands of miles for only 61 cents? Letter, no. 61 cents is the post card rate, so you can send a post card thousands of miles for that. If you introduce an outside envelope its 78 cents to mail that thousands of miles, up to 1oz.

That is still very impressive from my European viewpoint.

Re: Postal Arbitrage

#244

Post by danesparza »

Yes, but Amazon Prime costs $140 a year.

That means you would have to do these shenanigans roughly 1/3 of the year without ceasing before you even started to touch Amazon's profit margin for your account alone.

Re: Postal Arbitrage

#245

Post by bombcar »

ornornor wrote: post #187
bombcar wrote: post #23

I've used something like this list to get "over the hump" for $35 to reach free shipping without prime. It's horribly annoying to have a product that is $34.99 and you want it, but it'll cost shipping unless you get the damn Volkswagen screw; and then Amazon ships them individually anyway.

You can also get preorder items, it adds to the total. Your actual items hips right away but the preorder doesn’t. Once you get your item, cancel the preorder and you’re done.

This is something I'd not thought of before ... diabolically efficient!

Re: Postal Arbitrage

#246

Post by non- »

danesparza wrote: post #244

Yes, but Amazon Prime costs $140 a year. That means you would have to do these shenanigans roughly 1/3 of the year without ceasing before you even started to touch Amazon's profit margin for your account alone.

If you have Prime it's probably already justified by your normal usage. So shenanigans are effectively free.

Re: Postal Arbitrage

#247

Post by shagie »

eru wrote: post #203
sdenton4 wrote: post #191

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My quixotic bicycle grocery buying system still wins, though.

You need to take into account your system requires there to be a nice store (presumably with aircon and lights on) within your cycling distance. With online shopping and delivery, the warehouse can be a dark, cramped, hot, robot-filled pandemonium in the worst part of town.

> With online shopping and delivery, the warehouse can be a dark, cramped, hot, robot-filled pandemonium in the worst part of town.

Tom Scott - How many robots does it take to run a grocery store? https://youtu.be/ssZ_8cqfBlE (grocery fulfillment centers are different than Amazon)

... It's also coldish. https://youtu.be/w2HnKpTo2So

Re: Postal Arbitrage

#248

Post by weird-eye-issue »

kmoser wrote: post #193
weird-eye-issue wrote: post #182

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You will still get mail to your address though...

If your goal is to receive zero mail at your address, simply have all your email forwarded to this service and configure it to opt-out of all notifications. Alternately, you can forward your mail to an entirely different address. (This is just a Gedankenexperiment; please don't spam strangers by forwarding your mail to them.)

A lot of mail is marked as do not forward

Re: Postal Arbitrage

#249

Post by petcat »

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…

Not to mention that I would much rather give my $0.61 to a public service like the Post Office than to Amazon.

Re: Postal Arbitrage

#250

Post by globular-toast »

jmmcd wrote: post #219
globular-toast wrote: post #207

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sometimes it's a curse to think. My friend group years ago started "Secret Santa" at Christmas and I quickly realised it wasn't about giving useful or even entertaining gifts, it was just about the joke of the item itself. The more useless or stupid the better! I didn't realise this and chose a gift I thought would be appreciated but they were super disappointed that they weren't part of the joke. I've boycotted Secr…

Jokes are one of the good parts of human existence, so - while I see your side of the story - there is another side.

Yes, that's why I said it's a curse.
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