international shipping rates are crazy n unjustified. how can anything made in china be so cheap when shipping costs are so high? it discourages small business.
makes no sense at all.
makes no sense at all.
Subsidized postal rates
Have you ever wondered how shipping from China can be so affordable?The answer lies in the Universal Postal Union (UPU), which is an agreement that countries will carry other countries' parcels for a small fee or even for free.
The UPU is set up so that rich countries pay a higher fee to get their international mail delivered while developing countries pay a much smaller fee.
For many years, China was seen as a developing country and benefitted from insanely low shipping rates.
According to the CBC, shipping a part from China to the US could cost less than $1, while shipping that same part within the US would cost $22.99.
The difference in cost is paid by the American taxpayers.
Of course, this agreement heavily benefits China, while it's a huge cost for the US.
In 2018, Donald Trump threatened to pull the country out of the UPU.
After some negotiations, the US was allowed to raise its fees, while Canada and other countries can raise their fees by about 16% annually.
The shipping cost from China has been rising and will be doing so in the coming years. However, the shipping costs from China are still lower than what they cost in reality, and it's an important reason why AliExpress products are so cheap.
To give you an idea, a country like Canada would need a 200% to 400% increase to close the gap between domestic and international rates!
(Source: DoDropShipping.com)
That is really, really, funny! I had a great chuckle over that. Do you realize that the distance from Land's End to John O'Groats is just a Sunday drive here in North America? By comparison, the Royal Mail is way more expensive than Canada Post.
Yup! I've had a description similar to yours on "copy/paste" for years when clients complain about shipping rates. Eventually, these prices will even out across the globe.
We face the same issue with our eBay store. Postal rates keep going up, customer complaints keep going up, eBay profits keep going up (because part of the final value fees are based on shipping), and, we as Sellers, keep getting squeezed.
Which now circles right back to the reason I have put those tools on sale. When I started my store in 2001, I had over 10,000 items on the site, and I was selling on eBay, as well. As time passed, I realized I was working for the post office and for eBay. And, as competition grew, my margins continued to shrink.
Today, I have fewer that 400 items on my site, and that will get reduced further as I phase out tools and, perhaps, display cases.
The flip side of that is that most of my sales are now coming from my own manufactured products; large scale R/C kits and 3D-printed accessories.
The days of the middle-person are definitely numbered. I am happy I am getting out of that squeeze.
Today, I have fewer that 400 items on my site, and that will get reduced further as I phase out tools and, perhaps, display cases.
The flip side of that is that most of my sales are now coming from my own manufactured products; large scale R/C kits and 3D-printed accessories.
The days of the middle-person are definitely numbered. I am happy I am getting out of that squeeze.
We've been eBay members since 1997 and selling for almost 20 years. Time was it was fun to do so. Great customers, good communications, etc. Now it is no longer fun and what was once an enjoyable hobby / side gig has been reduced to drudgery. We're closing our store at the end of this year.
Good luck with your new direction.
...henry
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Of course, large importers do not have to ship using postal services. Much of the stuff coming from China arrives by container ship. Imagine how many ship model kits could be stuffed into a container. The shipping cost per kit would be negligible.
Roger
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I got the invoice but when I hit pay pal it disappears. Can I use a credit card or check?
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