Thou shalt not...

[Stonent]

Forget to check Ebay before buying something from Aliexpress. Paid $3 for a 2M HDMI cable from China. Later in the day saw a 2M cable on ebay for $0.99 with free shipping from the US.
The HDMI to DVI adapter also was the same price in the US with free shipping.

I ordered the ebay ones as well. If I can, I'll cancel the Aliexpress order but if I can't no big loss.  It's the up to a month shipping time from China that's the worst part.

[xrunner]

  It's the up to a month shipping time from China that's the worst part.

Is that what they told you? I've ordered from China several times and it takes about a week and a half.

[c4757p]

I have definitely had packages take very nearly a month from China. Not usually, though.

[David_AVD]

I've found that packages from sellers on AliExpress often take 4-6 weeks to get to me.  Same for eBay if it's a Chinese seller.

[rdl]

Usually 10 days to 2 weeks for me, though sometimes it takes longer.

$0.99 with free shipping from the US

That doesn't seem possible. All told, it costs about $2.50 to mail a First Class package and I've never heard of any cheaper shipping method. I understand when it comes from China their government subsides their shipping cost, but that won't work within the U.S.

[ablacon64]

Lucky you! It takes 60 or 70 days to arrive to Brazil.... 

Edit: I meant from china.

[David_AVD]

A lot of the time it is shipped from China, despite what the auction or web site may say.

[notsob]

I always check to see if it is available from HK instead of china, generally much quicker delivery from HK

[rexxar]

Usually 10 days to 2 weeks for me, though sometimes it takes longer.

$0.99 with free shipping from the US

That doesn't seem possible. All told, it costs about $2.50 to mail a First Class package and I've never heard of any cheaper shipping method. I understand when it comes from China their government subsides their shipping cost, but that won't work within the U.S.

I think just an HDMI cable might qualify as a Flat package. IIRC, <1lb is 92 cents.

[Stonent]

I was working on a way to connect a real screen to my Raspberry Pi.  I managed to get a 19" HP LCD monitor for $5 this weekend at the local Habitat for Humanity store. Unfortunately I powered it on and there's a spider web crack about 2 inches from the bottom right corner. The monitor had no cables with it so I haven't been able to test how bad it is but it didn't look like the typical "ink leaked out" cracked LCD so it could be livable. I also picked up a 4.5" car headrest mount LCD at Goodwill. It had a proprietary DIN style connector but I was able to get a pinout, and my jumper wires worked fine as DIN pins and got my R-Pi running on it, but very blurry. But at $3.15 a bargain!

[rdl]

If it's flat enough, it's a letter - one stamp per ounce. Otherwise, it's a package - 3 oz. minimum for $2.07 at the Post Office (around $1.80 through eBay) plus envelope, packaging, label and so on. Boxes and flat-rate are even more expensive.

[Psi]

I'd be worried about the quality of any HDMI cable that can be 99c including shipping.

[Stonent]

I'd be worried about the quality of any HDMI cable that can be 99c including shipping.

Well certainly better than RCA Cable, alligator clips, and jumper wire to a 4.5" LCD.

I still have the $2.99 one coming from China. I guess I could compare the two.

[pickle9000]

My shipping times to Lower Mainland, BC, Canada

Digikey - Next day before noon if I order before 3pm (courier)

All the rest are mail

Hong kong - 2 weeks mail
China Ebay - in general 2 - 3 weeks
AliExpress - 4 weeks at minimum
Singapore - Under a week (crazy fast)
Britan - 5-7 days
Anything in the us by mail 1-4 weeks crazy (korea is the same)?

[poorchava]

When I'm ordering to Poland from ebay, aliexpress, dx, elecrow, itead and such it's about 3 weeks on avarage. Fastest was like 12 days and longest about a month.

[Stonent]

My shipping times to Lower Mainland, BC, Canada

Digikey - Next day before noon if I order before 3pm (courier)

All the rest are mail

Hong kong - 2 weeks mail
China Ebay - in general 2 - 3 weeks
AliExpress - 4 weeks at minimum
Singapore - Under a week (crazy fast)
Britan - 5-7 days
Anything in the us by mail 1-4 weeks crazy (korea is the same)?

That's because Canada is a small communist island nation in the middle east and we don't trust you! 

'Merica! Woo!

[pickle9000]

Yes we plan on world domination by holding doors open for people and saying thank you.

Biggest military decision in Canada? Which coast to put the tank on.
We have an aircraft carrier, that a row boat with a piece of plywood on it.
We have 3 battleships, two of them float!

[notsob]

we have trouble keeping 1 out of 6 subs sea worthy, got them designed by a landlocked country - go figure.

[Corporate666]

That doesn't seem possible. All told, it costs about $2.50 to mail a First Class package and I've never heard of any cheaper shipping method. I understand when it comes from China their government subsides their shipping cost, but that won't work within the U.S.

US Postal First Class Mail (with delivery confirmation) starts at $1.69 for up to 4oz packages.  So they are charging $0.69 for shipping but it costs them $0.70 more.  So they end up getting $2.30 for the cable, less packaging costs (they probably buy the cables in bulk from China pre-packaged, so it's probably just sticking a label on and dropping in the mailbox).

What I find more amazing is that it something like a cable can be made and transported all the way from China to the USA for a price that lets the American sell it for $2.30 and make a profit.  They are probably paying $1/ea for the cables, shipped.  That boggles the mind... just the fuel and handling costs to get the cable to America you would think would total over $1!

[pickle9000]

we have trouble keeping 1 out of 6 subs sea worthy, got them designed by a landlocked country - go figure.

We do pretty good under the water, we do have working subs and Phil Nuytten.

http://nuytco.com/products/newtsuit/

[Dago]

I've had some packages from china take like 1.5 months to arrive. The average seems to be 2-3 weeks or so. Last week I had a record, I had a package arrive 5 days after shipping from Shenzen to Finland. That's even faster than from the US or UK to here...

Time of the year affects the shipping speed a LOT. The 2-3 months before Christmas the shipping slows to a crawl. Also seems like the location from where the package is shipped seems to affect the speed. Hong Kong packages tend to take longer than mainland China packages.

I have a LOT of experience with shipping from China Damn eBay, such an infinite swirling money hole of doom...

[Psi]

2-4 weeks is pretty normal for china/aliexpress stuff to New Zealand.

Digikey is about 3-4 days during the week and 2 days when i order at like 2am on Saturday, then it usually arrives first thing Monday morning.

[rdl]

US Postal First Class Mail (with delivery confirmation) starts at $1.69 for up to 4oz packages.

Not that it matters that much, but that is incorrect. Besides, the OP stated :

$0.99 with free shipping from the US

Using the Post Office, the minimum charge is $2.07 for a package by First Class Mail (with delivery confirmation). eBay, and others, do offer discounts. Maybe you use one of these other service providers?

I use eBay fairly often, I think their price is about $1.80 or so, but it's been a few months since I shipped anything through them. Envelopes aren't free and I'd be surprised if the cable weighed under 4 oz.

[Stonent]

Yes we plan on world domination by holding doors open for people and saying thank you.

Biggest military decision in Canada? Which coast to put the tank on.
We have an aircraft carrier, that a row boat with a piece of plywood on it.
We have 3 battleships, two of them float!

Just please don't feed Mr. Pink to the woodchipper.