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No More Cheap Shipping for Chinese Sellers

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Re: No More Cheap Shipping for Chinese Sellers

#321

Post by iagovar »

afiedler wrote: post #92
ajnin wrote: post #23

Can someone shed light on the subsidy structure behing the current model, are shipments from China being subsidized by shipments from other countries or is there government money involved ? In any case this kind of subsidy is not necessarily bad for developing countries, and it was probably instrumental in China's phenomenal economic growth, but it is now in the conquering superpower category, it's time it loses this…

There's a fantastic Planet Money episode about the Universal Postal Union[1] and why this is a problem. Basically, the UPU assumes that a country will send about the same amount of international mail that it receives. There may be an imbalance between any two countries, but in aggregate, it assumes that these imbalances will net out. Furthermore, the UPU sets rates based on the sending country's costs. Since China wa…

Does this also affect Europe? I remember that there was free or very inexpensive shipping from China to Spain.

Re: No More Cheap Shipping for Chinese Sellers

#322

Post by Accujack »

Kadin wrote: post #303
Accujack wrote: post #265

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Also businesses like Harbor Freight will benefit, because it will be much harder/more expensive to buy direct. Same thing with the "cheap" brands at places like Menards. This will slow the pace of innovation in a lot of areas, especially among electronics hobbyists. Cheap chinese circuit boards from Shenzen are a major driver for electronics related businesses, robotics, drones, and lots of other areas. This is going…

There are lots of companies that buy in bulk from China and have US distribution. They will still be around for your Shenzen electronics needs. I have very little sympathy for people who were depending on what was essentially taxpayer-subsidized shipping from China. If you can't do what you're trying to do without that subsidy, you probably shouldn't be doing it. I'm certainly not interested in having the USPS lose m…

Having worked at the USPS, I can say definitively it will lose money anyway, and it is not taxpayer supported except by special request (USPS can ask congress for funding for special needs, which they can deny)

So, despite all the people complaining here about "muh dollars subsidizing", that isn't correct. See the USPS FAQ for more info.

The UPU situation was not great, but it has a limited impact on taxpayers.

Re: No More Cheap Shipping for Chinese Sellers

#324

Post by PaulHoule »

Griffinsauce wrote: post #320
leshow wrote: post #310

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

It was two decades ago, but when I lived in Germany it also seemed that they lost about 50% of the parcels that we sent between Germany and the US.

Re: No More Cheap Shipping for Chinese Sellers

#325

Post by fhood »

xster wrote: post #298
jarfil wrote: post #204

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's cheaper to ship 10,000 items in a single container, than to ship each one separately, which is why mail carriers bundle items together (in bags, vans, containers, etc) instead of handling them separately all the way. Domestic mail is like sending separate items, which get bundled together, then un-bundled again to deliver them to their final destination. All these steps happen at domestic wages, and at best with…

There's still humans in postal sorting centers? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zjdpz05u2DY omg...

Basically has to be right? Even if the shipping labels were completely standardized, you still have to deal with irregular package dimensions, composition, and label locations. The sort of stuff that robots aren't so good at.

Re: No More Cheap Shipping for Chinese Sellers

#327

Post by Pigo »

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.

Like I said, I'm just talking about anecdotal experiences. I have no stake in the trade war, I've just been wondering why shipping from there has taken months in some instances. I'm talking about a pair of shoes, not a washer & dryer.

Re: No More Cheap Shipping for Chinese Sellers

#328

Post by flixic »

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?

European here. Shipping from US can be insanely expensive. Once I had to pay $40 to ship a pen. I can totally believe the $370 figure.

Re: No More Cheap Shipping for Chinese Sellers

#329

Post by decoyworker »

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…

Who cares? The goods crossing the ocean should not have their shipping subsidized. Drop shipping doesn't change that. If it's cheaper to use a drop shipper then they are providing a service anyway so I wouldn't call it rent seeking. That would only work for really in demand products anyway in which case good? Not to mention any drop shipper is taking on risk.

Re: No More Cheap Shipping for Chinese Sellers

#330

Post by EpicEng »

jessaustin wrote: post #73
iNate2000 wrote: post #21

Anybody else notice that they said "September 31st"?

This is fine for an end date. Any duration should be specified as half-open, t₀ . This way it's clear that September, even its last day, is in the period and October is not.

Right, that's totally how people will reason about a date that doesn't exist. This is why the other side of the business can't stand talking to some of us.
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