U.N. postal union clinches deal to keep U.S. in

Re:U.N. postal union clinches deal to keep U.S. in by rwmurrayVT on Wednesday September 25, 2019 @02:42PM (#21073830)

This might be the wildest community I have stumbled on in a long time. Have you noticed particular pricing discrepancies between similar items sold different ways?

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Re:U.N. postal union clinches deal to keep U.S. in by mikepurvis on Wednesday September 25, 2019 @03:00PM (#21074063)

Hard to say specifically, but for example I'm planning out my first build for this winter, and wheel pulleys are a big one that varies widely, even for something as relatively standard as a 5M one that fits on an ABEC11 hub. For example:

$16ea + $5 shipping to Canada from China: https://www.ebay.com/itm/302678192585

Compare this to Metroboard, an established e-commerce storefront, who currently has their similar pulley marked down to $15 from a regular $30, but when I emailed to asked about shipping to Canada I was told it would be a $55 flat rate box: https://metro-board.com/e-skate-shop/pulley-insert-for-abec-...

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Re:U.N. postal union clinches deal to keep U.S. in by pravda on Wednesday September 25, 2019 @05:29PM (#21075699)

>I was told it would be a $55 flat rate box

You can send that for $10.50 from USA to Canada as an International Small Package [1].

They just don't care enough about you as a customer to bother.

Thank god for China! You are not at the mercy of the douchebags.

[1] https://www.nerdylorrin.net/jerry/postages/

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Re:U.N. postal union clinches deal to keep U.S. in by Scoundreller on Thursday September 26, 2019 @12:17AM (#21078104)

Or too afraid to consider sending something without insurance. Even though it will have tracking.

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Re:U.N. postal union clinches deal to keep U.S. in by sokoloff on Thursday September 26, 2019 @05:47AM (#21079537)

Who would (have their customer) pay $40 for insurance on under $100 (retail) of product?

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Re:U.N. postal union clinches deal to keep U.S. in by Scoundreller on Thursday September 26, 2019 @10:47AM (#21081365)

They think everywhere outside the US is a 4th world country.

International shipping does require a bit of a knack for risk assessment. There are countries that most think are fine, but with terrible postal systems. Or annoying customs. Or people that flip out when a package takes more than 3 days to arrive.

Shipping to Sweden is fine. Shipping to Italy isn’t. German Customs will inspect a lot and send a bill, Canadian customs often doesn’t bother with American packages.

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Re:U.N. postal union clinches deal to keep U.S. in by mikepurvis on Thursday September 26, 2019 @10:00AM (#21080921)

Potentially a seller who a) doesn't really care about customers outside the US or b) is used to shipping $1000+ complete products and doesn't do enough volume of small spare parts to make it worth investing in a separate process for those orders.

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Re:U.N. postal union clinches deal to keep U.S. in by Scoundreller on Thursday September 26, 2019 @11:13AM (#21081617)

Probably the former. As a Canadian, I would ship anywhere and generally made enough off the extra demand to pay for any losses.

And I was happy to make some Super Nintendo collector in Sweden happy.

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