6 ms·

Is this a surprise? When I think quality tapestries I always think India and Pakistan. India is similar to China in that they both have a rich heritage of won

Is this a surprise? When I think quality tapestries I always think India and Pakistan. India is similar to China in that they both have a rich heritage of wonderful art, and a huge population to carry on that tradition. It's surprising to me that we don't have more goods from India.

sergers 9y ago
Possibly export fees? The article touches on the merchant advantage is reduced import costs, and pre-existing logistics network. I wished alot of Indian ecommerce sites would ship out to North America easily... But not many of the big ones. China subsidizes delivery of packages... And why they can hawk an item for under a dollar including shipping. (Heck in Canada, it's minimum $1.20 to send a letter to the states)
- jazoom 9y ago
  In Australia it's $1.00 to send a letter to my neighbour.
  - robryan 9y ago
    Even worse for a small package (200g), will cost you around $5 to your neighbour or about $3 from China. If we want to send the same package back via Auspost would expect at least $10.
    - toomanybeersies 9y ago
      I sent a book by NZ post to Switzerland. Cost me more than the value of the book to send it.
      - jlarocco 9y ago
        It was more than the price of the book, not the value. Since you sent it anyway, the book was valuable enough to ship despite the price of shipping it.
        spraak 9y ago
        You really don't know the value in this case. You're arguing semantics but they are thr only one who in this case knows the value.
- Spooky23 9y ago
  It is less subsidy and more abuse of a treaty. US first class mail customers are actually the ones subsidizing your free shipping for a counterfeit “Star Winners” Lego minifig.
  - markdown 9y ago
    > It is less subsidy and more abuse of a treaty. Serious question: Why do you call it "abuse"? Are the Chinese taking advantage of a loophole Americans left in a treaty?
    - Laforet 9y ago
      In a strict sense, yes. The loopholes has been there for decades but widespread exploitation did not start until around 2008-2010 when sellers in Asia realised that they could send trinkets to US customers for next to nothing and still make some profit. Additionally it is hard to collect import duty and VAT on small personal imports, but domestic sellers who buys stock in bulk are rarely exempt, so the price gap grows further.
      - frozenport 9y ago
        But bulk importers can withdraw Chinese vat? But the ebay seller can't?
      - fjsolwmv 9y ago
        It's not a loophole and it was a business deal not a treaty. The USPS exec thought he was being clever by getting free shipping to China, but he didn't realize that there is practically no mail shipping US to China, and lots of mail shipping China to US.
        Laforet 9y ago
        >It's not a loophole and it was a business deal not a treaty. Participation in the Universal Post Union is a political matter. Countries cannot simply back out if they think certain terms are unfair. >The USPS exec thought he was being clever by getting free shipping to China, but he didn't realize that there is practically no mail shipping US to China, and lots of mail shipping China to US. For the same article it still costs China less to send to the US than the other way around because the former counts as a developing country, though the unbalanced volume does compound the problem. After all the scheme was not drafted with many small parcels of personal imports in mind and it will take decades to fix.
GuiA 9y ago
India is similar to China in that they both have a rich heritage of wonderful art, and a huge population to carry on that tradition. It's surprising to me that we don't have more goods from India. I agree with your premise - India and China both have a deep and rich tradition of arts and crafts - but why are you surprised that we don’t have more goods from India? Unless I am mistaken, the rise of “Made in China” goods did not come with a proportional rise of people demanding Chinese pottery/jewelry/paintings/sculptures/etc in the West.
- chucky_z 9y ago
  But didn't it? If you go to any fancy estate you'll see quite a lot of Asian art. Most of it probably produced in/from/inspired by China. If you're in the bay area go to Filoli and you'll see exactly what I'm talking about. They have hallways full of massive intricately carved blinds. They have huge beautiful rugs, but they are not featured in any way shape or form as much as the other art is.
  - coldtea 9y ago
    >But didn't it? If you go to any fancy estate you'll see quite a lot of Asian art. Most of it probably produced in/from/inspired by China. Which is irrelevant to explain "the rise of “Made in China” goods" as this "Asian art", whether "produced in/from/inspired by China" or not, is 1/1,000,000th of the Made in China goods people buy (which today includes everything, from cars and iPhones to consumer electronics and Armanis). China doesn't dominate global manufacturing / production because people liked Chinese art, but because they built the infrastructure, support systems, expertise, and hands to produce whatever much more common products.
    - pixelbill 9y ago
      Plus China saved a ton on not having to innovate or research anything.
cvsh 9y ago
>When I think quality tapestries I always think India and Pakistan. I think you and Amazon have different priorities when choosing tapestry manufacturers
- ams6110 9y ago
  Agreed. Amazon's priority will be as cheap as possible and just enough quality that you won't return it.
puranjay 9y ago
1. Indian exporters are not tech savvy 2. International shipping fees are exorbitant

sergers 9y ago

Possibly export fees? The article touches on the merchant advantage is reduced import costs, and pre-existing logistics network. I wished alot of Indian ecommerce sites would ship out to North America easily... But not many of the big ones. China subsidizes delivery of packages... And why they can hawk an item for under a dollar including shipping. (Heck in Canada, it's minimum $1.20 to send a letter to the states)

jazoom 9y ago
In Australia it's $1.00 to send a letter to my neighbour.
- robryan 9y ago
  Even worse for a small package (200g), will cost you around $5 to your neighbour or about $3 from China. If we want to send the same package back via Auspost would expect at least $10.
  - toomanybeersies 9y ago
    I sent a book by NZ post to Switzerland. Cost me more than the value of the book to send it.
    - jlarocco 9y ago
      It was more than the price of the book, not the value. Since you sent it anyway, the book was valuable enough to ship despite the price of shipping it.
      - spraak 9y ago
        You really don't know the value in this case. You're arguing semantics but they are thr only one who in this case knows the value.
Spooky23 9y ago
It is less subsidy and more abuse of a treaty. US first class mail customers are actually the ones subsidizing your free shipping for a counterfeit “Star Winners” Lego minifig.
- markdown 9y ago
  > It is less subsidy and more abuse of a treaty. Serious question: Why do you call it "abuse"? Are the Chinese taking advantage of a loophole Americans left in a treaty?
  - Laforet 9y ago
    In a strict sense, yes. The loopholes has been there for decades but widespread exploitation did not start until around 2008-2010 when sellers in Asia realised that they could send trinkets to US customers for next to nothing and still make some profit. Additionally it is hard to collect import duty and VAT on small personal imports, but domestic sellers who buys stock in bulk are rarely exempt, so the price gap grows further.
    - frozenport 9y ago
      But bulk importers can withdraw Chinese vat? But the ebay seller can't?
    - fjsolwmv 9y ago
      It's not a loophole and it was a business deal not a treaty. The USPS exec thought he was being clever by getting free shipping to China, but he didn't realize that there is practically no mail shipping US to China, and lots of mail shipping China to US.
      - Laforet 9y ago
        >It's not a loophole and it was a business deal not a treaty. Participation in the Universal Post Union is a political matter. Countries cannot simply back out if they think certain terms are unfair. >The USPS exec thought he was being clever by getting free shipping to China, but he didn't realize that there is practically no mail shipping US to China, and lots of mail shipping China to US. For the same article it still costs China less to send to the US than the other way around because the former counts as a developing country, though the unbalanced volume does compound the problem. After all the scheme was not drafted with many small parcels of personal imports in mind and it will take decades to fix.

GuiA 9y ago

India is similar to China in that they both have a rich heritage of wonderful art, and a huge population to carry on that tradition. It's surprising to me that we don't have more goods from India. I agree with your premise - India and China both have a deep and rich tradition of arts and crafts - but why are you surprised that we don’t have more goods from India? Unless I am mistaken, the rise of “Made in China” goods did not come with a proportional rise of people demanding Chinese pottery/jewelry/paintings/sculptures/etc in the West.

chucky_z 9y ago
But didn't it? If you go to any fancy estate you'll see quite a lot of Asian art. Most of it probably produced in/from/inspired by China. If you're in the bay area go to Filoli and you'll see exactly what I'm talking about. They have hallways full of massive intricately carved blinds. They have huge beautiful rugs, but they are not featured in any way shape or form as much as the other art is.
- coldtea 9y ago
  >But didn't it? If you go to any fancy estate you'll see quite a lot of Asian art. Most of it probably produced in/from/inspired by China. Which is irrelevant to explain "the rise of “Made in China” goods" as this "Asian art", whether "produced in/from/inspired by China" or not, is 1/1,000,000th of the Made in China goods people buy (which today includes everything, from cars and iPhones to consumer electronics and Armanis). China doesn't dominate global manufacturing / production because people liked Chinese art, but because they built the infrastructure, support systems, expertise, and hands to produce whatever much more common products.
  - pixelbill 9y ago
    Plus China saved a ton on not having to innovate or research anything.

cvsh 9y ago

>When I think quality tapestries I always think India and Pakistan. I think you and Amazon have different priorities when choosing tapestry manufacturers

ams6110 9y ago
Agreed. Amazon's priority will be as cheap as possible and just enough quality that you won't return it.

puranjay 9y ago

1. Indian exporters are not tech savvy 2. International shipping fees are exorbitant