What's up with shipping ?

[Lauffray]

I truly don't understand how shipping works and is priced to and from Canada.

How come I can have something shipped from Japan or Hong Kong for close to nothing in under 10 days, but sending something to Europe has to go by boat and costs the earth ? Buying stuff from the US is an exercise in frustration, even for small inexpensive goods the cost of shipping exceeds the value of the actual thing you're buying. I've bought cameras from Japan and the UK and paid no import duty, but had to pay them on film from the US.

This isn't a rant, I want to understand how this works. Is it import duties ? Taxing goods ? Airport entry/exit fees ? Postal costs ? Lack of competition in freight/transportation/shipping domestically ? Population distribution, urban density ?

 

[David Hughes]

Hi,

My 2d worth is to suggest some countries subsidise postal fees to boost trade. (Typical socialism for the big boys.)

As for customs, I guess they do things at random and ignore things under a certain declared value. So sometimes you are lucky and sometimes not.

Have you asked the postal people in your country? You never know, they might answer and tell you...

Regards, David

PS And a lot of sellers know what they are doing and a lot don't. Ditto the counter clerks who accept the parcels etc.