The Postal Service is losing millions a year to help you buy cheap stuff from China

[phantom power]

But a couple years ago, people stopped buying McGrath’s toys. He discovered that Chinese merchants were selling the same boats shipped directly from China for a total price of around $18, including postage. He couldn’t compete. Just the mailing cost would put him way past that price.

Though McGrath didn’t realize it at first, he was running into a quirk in an international treaty that makes it possible for an individual to send a pound of stuff from Hong Kong to D.C. for less than it would cost to send the same package from, say, Seattle.

This strange consequence of postal law was less significant when the mail was mostly personal correspondence. But as Chinese companies began logging on to Web marketplaces like eBay, Amazon, and Alibaba, they started taking advantage of the shipping deal to sell directly to American consumers. And so it’s never been easier to get something cheap and Chinese delivered to your door for a startlingly low price: $4.64 for a digital alarm clock; $2.50 for a folding knife; $1.88 for an iPhone cable — all with shipping included.

...

All of this is little comfort to McGrath, who chafes at the thought of the Postal Service helping Chinese merchants poach his customers. “All of us sellers are selling a lot of Chinese goods in America but at least we’re creating jobs, making money, and adding to the economy,” he said. “But when people buy direct from China that’s adding nothing to the American economy.”

http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/storyline/wp/2014/09/12/the-postal-service-is-losing-millions-a-year-to-help-you-buy-cheap-stuff-from-china/

[Erich Bloodaxe BSN]

1. That needs changed, but I can't say I'm sympathetic to McGrath.

But a lot of what McGrath sells is just what he thinks can be profitable — like remote-controlled boats, which he used to buy from an importer in Long Beach at around $14 and could resell on Amazon for $34.95.

He's not adding value to anything, not creating anything. He's just upping the price on the crap HE buys from China and reselling it, taking money from people for doing nothing useful. He's a middleman whining about the manufacturers marketing more directly to the endusers and cutting out his personal grafting.

[phantom power]

2. Perhaps, but economies always have lots of those - we call them "retailers."

I'm not sure we want to eliminate American retailers as a business model.

[Holly_Hobby]

3. But you'll have to wait a month for it to arrive from China n/t