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Is that a problem? Seems like if they do that then it's US domestic mail, playing by all the same rules (and high rates) as any other domestic mail item. Compet

Is that a problem? Seems like if they do that then it's US domestic mail, playing by all the same rules (and high rates) as any other domestic mail item. Competing with Chinese shippers would look exactly the same as competing with anyone shipping out of LA/Oakland/Seattle.

Scoundreller 7y ago
It’s just not going to be a boon to US drop-shippers, the Chinese ones will still have a lower cost of operations by dealing direct and almost 100% Chinese labour costs.
- mistermann 7y ago
  You seem to be completely overlooking the fact that it is way cheaper to ship an item from China to a specific location in the US, than it is to ship the same item from within the US.
  - Scoundreller 7y ago
    It’ll be good for the USPS (or maybe not if people just order off Amazon and they deliver), but the benefits to US jobs will be oversold.
    - mistermann 7y ago
      I haven't really heard jobs being a part of this discussion at all, the reasoning and the rhetoric has been about leveling an clearly unfair playing field. The USPS will certainly make more revenue, and in turn they should be able to pass that on by reducing shipping costs for people shipping from within the US. For companies drop-shipping from China, regardless of whether the person running the business is in the US or in China, the impact is the same. But for US based businesses that inventory items and ship out of the US, this change would be a big advantage.
      - Scoundreller 7y ago
        > The USPS will certainly make more revenue Maybe. The main benefactor may be Amazon people switch to them. They have the lowest domestic shipping costs (presumably, since they’ve implemented their own in-house couriers). The actual cost of USPS of delivering a package is kinda complicated. If USPS is going by your house every day, how much do their costs go down if they have 1 less package to drop off? Dividing total costs by packages delivered doesn’t tell that story.
        mistermann 7y ago
        > Maybe If prices are raised as significantly as suggested, you think they'll only maybe make more revenue? If the sales completely stopped, or there was a mass exodus (eventually) to Amazon there may not be an increase, but this seems fairly unlikely in the short term. > If USPS is going by your house every day, how much do their costs go down if they have 1 less package to drop off? Dividing total costs by packages delivered doesn’t tell that story. Of course, but we're discussing revenue.
        Scoundreller 7y ago
        Americans should pray that USPS doesn’t only worry about the short term.
        mistermann 7y ago
        Indeed. But that's yet another topic isn't it.
        Scoundreller 7y ago
        Seems related enough.
        mistermann 7y ago
        Let's finish the first topic before moving on.
  - m463 7y ago
    But won't there be import duties on the goods from china, sales tax consequences for goods in the US, and regulations that will have to be met?
- kevstev 7y ago
  I think most will agree that is a "fair" competitive advantage. What myself and I think most find problematic is that the USPS is actually subsidizing Chinese packages inbound to the US, to the point where its somehow cheaper to send from China than domestically. That may have made sense at some point when China was still in its embryonic phase of development, but they are well past the point where this is necessary or desirable.
  - dev_dull 7y ago
    The fact it went on this long is the confusing part to me. Why didn't anybody come and say "Hey! This is weird. Let's stop this" before 2016?
    - Scoundreller 7y ago
      A certain someone has a real hate-on for China?
      - dev_dull 7y ago
        It really isn’t a personal issue. I believe the issue is non-partisan (and no brainer). Or maybe I’m being naive in today’s world in thinking that.
      - newfriend 7y ago
        Or certain others were much too friendly with China?
    - mjevans 7y ago
      Probably a combination of Politics, not-rocking-the-boat (generally), and a question like yours. With globalization increasing as it has in the past few decades a lot of the old shipping and carriage agreements become counter productive.
      - joe_the_user 7y ago
        I think the way this happened certainly looked like (petty)"Politics" and "not-rocking-the-boat (generally)". I'm sure most would expect "Globalization" as an idea that was generally in the air would have influenced those who took the actions here as well as the people allowed those actions to happen (which had to include quite a number of US officials). The thing is that definitely involved a huge amount of money flowing in various directions and so I tend to believe a portion of people making this and allowing this to happen were considering the interests involved also. Especially, some people (small US operations) were screaming about this from the start, why it was hard for them to be heard is worth considering.
hnick 7y ago
This is common in Australia and there are some problems. Any faulty goods purchased here are to be returned to the merchant (rather than manufacturer) and some of them make this very difficult by providing a local sender but a foreign 'return' address. I'm pretty sure it's not strictly legal, but it's too annoying in most cases to fight it. It also gives them a local business address so they can advertise local shipping but a lot of the time you have to wait for the next cargo shipment to come in so something that should take a few days now takes a week or two. This can be helped with reviews but we all know how those get gamed now with sellers flooding reviews or shutting down and starting as a new account. These are both differences that arise from a business not having a real local presence, but just the bare minimum presence 'for show'. Luckily, most of them are fairly inept and make themselves obvious on eBay by pasting Australian flags and Koalas all over their store pages :)

Scoundreller 7y ago

It’s just not going to be a boon to US drop-shippers, the Chinese ones will still have a lower cost of operations by dealing direct and almost 100% Chinese labour costs.

mistermann 7y ago
You seem to be completely overlooking the fact that it is way cheaper to ship an item from China to a specific location in the US, than it is to ship the same item from within the US.
- Scoundreller 7y ago
  It’ll be good for the USPS (or maybe not if people just order off Amazon and they deliver), but the benefits to US jobs will be oversold.
  - mistermann 7y ago
    I haven't really heard jobs being a part of this discussion at all, the reasoning and the rhetoric has been about leveling an clearly unfair playing field. The USPS will certainly make more revenue, and in turn they should be able to pass that on by reducing shipping costs for people shipping from within the US. For companies drop-shipping from China, regardless of whether the person running the business is in the US or in China, the impact is the same. But for US based businesses that inventory items and ship out of the US, this change would be a big advantage.
    - Scoundreller 7y ago
      > The USPS will certainly make more revenue Maybe. The main benefactor may be Amazon people switch to them. They have the lowest domestic shipping costs (presumably, since they’ve implemented their own in-house couriers). The actual cost of USPS of delivering a package is kinda complicated. If USPS is going by your house every day, how much do their costs go down if they have 1 less package to drop off? Dividing total costs by packages delivered doesn’t tell that story.
      - mistermann 7y ago
        > Maybe If prices are raised as significantly as suggested, you think they'll only maybe make more revenue? If the sales completely stopped, or there was a mass exodus (eventually) to Amazon there may not be an increase, but this seems fairly unlikely in the short term. > If USPS is going by your house every day, how much do their costs go down if they have 1 less package to drop off? Dividing total costs by packages delivered doesn’t tell that story. Of course, but we're discussing revenue.
        Scoundreller 7y ago
        Americans should pray that USPS doesn’t only worry about the short term.
        mistermann 7y ago
        Indeed. But that's yet another topic isn't it.
        Scoundreller 7y ago
        Seems related enough.
        mistermann 7y ago
        Let's finish the first topic before moving on.
- m463 7y ago
  But won't there be import duties on the goods from china, sales tax consequences for goods in the US, and regulations that will have to be met?
kevstev 7y ago
I think most will agree that is a "fair" competitive advantage. What myself and I think most find problematic is that the USPS is actually subsidizing Chinese packages inbound to the US, to the point where its somehow cheaper to send from China than domestically. That may have made sense at some point when China was still in its embryonic phase of development, but they are well past the point where this is necessary or desirable.
- dev_dull 7y ago
  The fact it went on this long is the confusing part to me. Why didn't anybody come and say "Hey! This is weird. Let's stop this" before 2016?
  - Scoundreller 7y ago
    A certain someone has a real hate-on for China?
    - dev_dull 7y ago
      It really isn’t a personal issue. I believe the issue is non-partisan (and no brainer). Or maybe I’m being naive in today’s world in thinking that.
    - newfriend 7y ago
      Or certain others were much too friendly with China?
  - mjevans 7y ago
    Probably a combination of Politics, not-rocking-the-boat (generally), and a question like yours. With globalization increasing as it has in the past few decades a lot of the old shipping and carriage agreements become counter productive.
    - joe_the_user 7y ago
      I think the way this happened certainly looked like (petty)"Politics" and "not-rocking-the-boat (generally)". I'm sure most would expect "Globalization" as an idea that was generally in the air would have influenced those who took the actions here as well as the people allowed those actions to happen (which had to include quite a number of US officials). The thing is that definitely involved a huge amount of money flowing in various directions and so I tend to believe a portion of people making this and allowing this to happen were considering the interests involved also. Especially, some people (small US operations) were screaming about this from the start, why it was hard for them to be heard is worth considering.

hnick 7y ago

This is common in Australia and there are some problems. Any faulty goods purchased here are to be returned to the merchant (rather than manufacturer) and some of them make this very difficult by providing a local sender but a foreign 'return' address. I'm pretty sure it's not strictly legal, but it's too annoying in most cases to fight it. It also gives them a local business address so they can advertise local shipping but a lot of the time you have to wait for the next cargo shipment to come in so something that should take a few days now takes a week or two. This can be helped with reviews but we all know how those get gamed now with sellers flooding reviews or shutting down and starting as a new account. These are both differences that arise from a business not having a real local presence, but just the bare minimum presence 'for show'. Luckily, most of them are fairly inept and make themselves obvious on eBay by pasting Australian flags and Koalas all over their store pages :)