General > General Technical Chat
The affordable way to send small parcels
Stray Electron:
--- Quote from: tszaboo on March 18, 2021, 11:39:50 pm ---
I'm slightly wondering how can Amazon send me a prime parcel, where the goods is 5 EUR.
:rant:
--- End quote ---
Lots of replies but I see that no one has answered your question directly. Here in the US, Amazon maintains warehouses all over the country and they use their own vehicles or a sub-contractor (usually a free lance individual) to deliver their items from the nearest warehouse. They don't use the US PS, UPS, FexEx or any of the other usual shipping companies so that saves them tons of money.
And BTW the price that most companies pay for shipping via those companies is a small FRACTION of what the same shipping company charges individuals!
bdunham7:
--- Quote from: blueskull on March 20, 2021, 02:43:39 am ---You do realize that a $1 parcel from China does not run the shortest path, right? They are likely to be routed through south east Asia or HK or who knows where, stay there and wait to catch the cheapest under loaded flight and that's why they arrive in months, even by air.
If I am to ship a small board to Europe or NA with a reliable, predetermined schedule, I pay MORE than your 13 Euros. DHL charges around $25 per package, and SF-Express charges $15 per envelope, $25 per package, and China Post EMS charges $30+ per package, both quoted for 1kg rest of the envelope.
--- End quote ---
The gripe (as I've heard it best expressed) is that even if the package is shipped all the way to say Los Angeles and through customs for free or under a subsidy, the USPS still gets it at that point and handles in-country routing and delivery. For that, the total cost is much less than I pay to ship the same package to my next door neighbor, although it will take less time. Same thing happens with packages to/from India. If I ship there, I get totally hosed on the postage, then it takes month to clear customs and they charge the recipient generously for storage. If they ship here via their normal cheap mail (at very low cost) I get the USPS guy coming to my door with a signature for a service equivalent to registered airmail. IIRC, this also used to happen with packages or letters from HK.
rdl:
I think Amazon only has warehouses in highly populated areas. There's none around here. Two of my last three Amazon purchases were delivered by the mailman, the other came in a big brown truck. I placed my last order on Monday and it was supposed to arrive tomorrow, but I got it yesterday.
tszaboo:
--- Quote from: Stray Electron on March 20, 2021, 02:22:57 am ---
--- Quote from: tszaboo on March 18, 2021, 11:39:50 pm ---
I'm slightly wondering how can Amazon send me a prime parcel, where the goods is 5 EUR.
:rant:
--- End quote ---
Lots of replies but I see that no one has answered your question directly. Here in the US, Amazon maintains warehouses all over the country and they use their own vehicles or a sub-contractor (usually a free lance individual) to deliver their items from the nearest warehouse. They don't use the US PS, UPS, FexEx or any of the other usual shipping companies so that saves them tons of money.
And BTW the price that most companies pay for shipping via those companies is a small FRACTION of what the same shipping company charges individuals!
--- End quote ---
I'm sure it does. Here it is usually UPS, sometimes PostNL delivering the packages. Judging by the fact that Amazon FBA is about 4 EUR for such small items, pf course they get the preferential treatment.
--- Quote from: blueskull on March 20, 2021, 02:43:39 am ---You do realize that a $1 parcel from China does not run the shortest path, right? They are likely to be routed through south east Asia or HK or who knows where, stay there and wait to catch the cheapest under loaded flight and that's why they arrive in months, even by air.
If I am to ship a small board to Europe or NA with a reliable, predetermined schedule, I pay MORE than your 13 Euros. DHL charges around $25 per package, and SF-Express charges $15 per envelope, $25 per package, and China Post EMS charges $30+ per package, both quoted for 1kg rest of the envelope.
--- End quote ---
They often use Cainiao Super Economy, which is Alibaba's own shipping service. I'm sure a lot of it is in 30ft containers on a ship, that's why they have 30-50 days delivery times.
--- Quote from: thm_w on March 19, 2021, 09:17:27 pm ---Its the same here in Canada, sending a letter is cheap, but any sort of small package is ~$15. So small sales of t-shirts, PCBAs, etc. is just not realistic.
You can look if there are any companies offering discounted shipping rates. The one I use here is Netparcel.
--- End quote ---
When I was a student at university, I regularly traded online. I was trading usually phone accessories, buying bulk on ebay and selling it on the local ebay equivalent. It was a nice income, paying more than the scholarship. Everything was in padded envelopes, and the only times I had issues with the shipping charges, when someone asked for collect-on-delivery. But they were paying for that, so no worries.
Here is what really pisses me off: Sending a letter, 20-50 grams is 3.1 EUR, worldwide.
If I place a PCB in the said letter, it starts at 13 EUR.
MadScientist:
its becoming very expensive to send cheap items
I make some pcbs and components available at basically cost price for members of a society Im a member of ( MERG , see merg.org.uk), most of my recipients are in the UK and are now outside the EU. each kit I send costs £3.50
essentially its now impossible to supply these customers, the postage is 4.50-6 euros , and now require 10 minutes in the post office while loads of details are keyed in and two large labels are stuck to the package ( this is a challenge in itself ) . This is so the UK customs can just scan a barcode to clear it
in reality its a huge hassle and the costs make it impractical , If i make a mistake or have to send a replacement , I can loose more then the value of the package . Also the risk of UK VAT being added and custom clearance fees, make it risky for my recipients to use me .
Its a crock of sh$$
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