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What they should do is review the subsidization of Chinese companies shipping to U.S. customers, often at the expense of makers and merchants in the U.S.: Acco

What they should do is review the subsidization of Chinese companies shipping to U.S. customers, often at the expense of makers and merchants in the U.S.: According to the terms set out in Universal Postal Union treaty, the USPS in 2014 gets paid no more than about $1.50 for delivering a one-pound package from a foreign carrier, which makes it hard to cover costs. [1] The USPS inspector general’s office estimated that the USPS lost $79 million in fiscal year 2013 delivering this foreign treaty mail. (The Postal Service itself declined to provide specific figures.) In an effort to ride the e-commerce boom, the Postal Service signed a deal in 2010 with China’s state carrier to sell a special service for small packages entering the U.S. For a small premium, the USPS offered tracking and delivery confirmation, an essential feature for online retailers, as well as expedited shipping. ... In 2012, USPS was paid only 94 cents on average for each piece of Chinese ePacket mail, according to a February report from the Postal Service’s inspector general’s office. That report estimated that the Postal Service was losing about a dollar on each incoming item, adding up to a $29.4 million net loss in 2012. Forums on eBay are filled with angry notes about ePacket. “I must say that it is simply an economic disaster for US Sellers,” one person wrote. “One product that we sell for 2.00 with 2.50 shipping a chinese company is selling for .99 with free shipping,” another complained. Washington Post: USPS loses millions each year on local delivery of mail from abroad (2014) https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/storyline/wp/2014/09/12/the-postal-service-is-losing-millions-a-year-to-help-you-buy-cheap-stuff-from-china/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/storyline/wp/2014/09/12/... Discussion: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14651884 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14651884

jiveturkey 9y ago
i guess they should review that but not as a financial concern. 30m of 5bn loss is just 0.5%. at such small percentage it doesn’t seem like it is the low hanging fruit wrt finance.
mcbits 9y ago
I'm curious what you mean by "makers" here. To me the term means end users who tinker and build their own gadgets for fun, education, or because nobody produces the thing they want. Cheap parts from China are a benefit to that group, not an expense, although shipping should be priced sustainably.
- ilamont 9y ago
  I'm thinking of the type of person who makes small-batch products and sells them, which kind of was the model for Etsy before cheap imported goods took over right around the same time the post office began subsidizing overseas carriers. Wired uses the term "maker" interchangeably with "crafter" in the following article, which gives some of the history: That Etsy began allowing manufacturing partners in 2013 underscored the reseller issue that has plagued the site for years. The Marketplace Integrity, Trust & Safety team—which has the unenviable task of policing sellers for adherence to Etsy rules—is unable or unwilling to weed out sellers of mass-manufactured goods. https://www.wired.com/2015/02/etsy-not-good-for-crafters/ https://www.wired.com/2015/02/etsy-not-good-for-crafters/

jiveturkey 9y ago

i guess they should review that but not as a financial concern. 30m of 5bn loss is just 0.5%. at such small percentage it doesn’t seem like it is the low hanging fruit wrt finance.

mcbits 9y ago

I'm curious what you mean by "makers" here. To me the term means end users who tinker and build their own gadgets for fun, education, or because nobody produces the thing they want. Cheap parts from China are a benefit to that group, not an expense, although shipping should be priced sustainably.

ilamont 9y ago
I'm thinking of the type of person who makes small-batch products and sells them, which kind of was the model for Etsy before cheap imported goods took over right around the same time the post office began subsidizing overseas carriers. Wired uses the term "maker" interchangeably with "crafter" in the following article, which gives some of the history: That Etsy began allowing manufacturing partners in 2013 underscored the reseller issue that has plagued the site for years. The Marketplace Integrity, Trust & Safety team—which has the unenviable task of policing sellers for adherence to Etsy rules—is unable or unwilling to weed out sellers of mass-manufactured goods. https://www.wired.com/2015/02/etsy-not-good-for-crafters/ https://www.wired.com/2015/02/etsy-not-good-for-crafters/