Chinese postal charges

I've always believed that the Chinese government subsidised the postal charges, not so apparently.

http://www.vatfraud.org/blog/stop-subsidising-chinese-post-via-united-nations-universal-postal-union-upu-terminal-dues/

Colin

I too thought it was the Chinese government behind it so your link is interesting.

Its also relevant and topical to me, as yesterday I received a £3 Oboe reed from Banggood which was delivered by a courier company! (less than a week after the email confirmation of shipping)

I have also had RM deliver and ask me to sign for Chinese items costing peanuts that were definitely not supposed to be sent by anything other than the cheapest mail.

Ian P

Explains an awful lot

This is the sort of thing Trump is going after, which is why he's so unpopular with certain groups

Trump is a "maverick" because he's against it

You never read about the detail in "our media" either

It's really about politics so can't comment further

Edited By Ady1 on 10/01/2019 11:54:15

all of my recent purchases from China have been reposted in the UK. Interestingly the CN22 customs form has also been filled in honestly too!

Jim

Have purchased a few items from BangGood and they were despatched from Thailand and no postal charge shown so assumed none charged, but the customs declaration never showed actual value, cometimes a ridiculous value such as 0.36 US Dollars which bore no relation to actual cost charged, or are the items we are buying only actually worth a few cents?

Dave W

You used to see similar variations with International Reply Coupons, which are paid at the issuing country's rate. This was the origin of Charles Ponzi's scheme to buy coupons in Italy and sell in the US.

Brian

Interesting link Colin, thanks for that. I too had assumed the Chinese Government were subsidising the postage. I don't mind paying reasonable postal charges but some companies seem to use it as an extra form on income. A well known DIY and building supplier now charge a flat rate £7.95 for home delivery. Sadly Click & Collect is simply no longer an option on many of their products so if you want the item you have to pay the £7.95.

Or go to another supplier Vic.

Emgee

Umm,

Hands up everyone who wants to pay more tax?

I feel this scandal is misleading. Have a look at the table of per head income by country in this Wikipedia article. As a measure of relative wealth across the world corrected to US dollars, it's quite interesting.

China is Number 42 in terms of individual wealth: Median Wealth per adult $16,333, Mean Wealth $47,810

Number 2 in the list of rich bastards is Australia. Median Wealth $191453, Mean Wealth $411060 per year. UK is number 11 - this is a good place to live.

A median (ie in the middle) Australian adult is nearly 12 times richer than his Chinese counterpart. The average Australian is 8.5 times richer.

Interestingly the median Brit is better off than the median American at $97,188 vs $61,667. How can this possibly be if the USA is the richest country in the world? (It is.) Two reasons:

• wealth in the USA is not shared as equally across the population as in many other parts of the world. Better be rich than poor in the USA.
• There are a lot more Americans than Brits.

The size of the population matters in terms of national wealth, but not to the individual. So Iceland is simultaneously stinking rich and an economic lightweight. In the opposite sense, China is both poor at the personal level and an economic heavyweight.  Personally, I like being comfortable in the UK.  Being a super-power isn't all roses!

International postage rates don't mean much. By international agreement the IPU is tuned to encourage economic growth. Guess what happens when China reaches 'developed' status? They pay the same rates as the US.

In a sense encouraging growth abroad is unfair, but does it work? Economists argue that overall the West gains by buying cheap foreign manufactured goods because it releases labour and money into higher value local enterprises. It does, but it's not painless. No consolation to previously very highly paid car workers in Detroit who find themselves having to abandon their homes and start again at the bottom. Capitalism is great when it's working well, but it can be rough on innocent bystanders when it rebalances. Opposite problem with Communism.

Dave

Edited By SillyOldDuffer on 10/01/2019 13:47:02

That's what I thought. Sadly this is a replacement part and I haven't yet found an exact item to fit. I will keep looking though.

A not insignificant part of Australian wealth today, though, is Chinese in origin:

https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/society/article/2163540/why-chinas-richest-flock-australia-even-if-theyre-not-always

Wealthy Chinese people, conscious that they're living in an economic system that is still largely government-controlled, and anxious about the long-term security of their wealth within an authoritarian political system that can asset-strip you on a whim, have been driving capital flight from the PRC for years.

Let's be careful not to stray into politics.

N.

Where is Ketan? He will know the correct answer to this

He will have to put his answer on a post card and post it from China as he is heading that way.

They do have the Internet in China, Jason. At least they did when I was last there. I'm assuming, of course, this forum is not on the proscribed list of domain names, which would render it inaccessible without a VPN.

That's just one of the perks us Australians have plus we have dust storms , drought and long hot summers with fire bans so we can't wear out our coal fired loco's , still wouldn't have it any other way.

Well how else would Ketan be able to see the question, and maybe you missed the pun about a post card and postal charges?

Despite him saying to me before he left that he may not be able to WhatsApp me from China which is his preferred method of communication he has managed to sneak out some video of ARC's secret testing of the new UVEX safety wear that they are now stocking buy walking the length of the great wall, looks a long way to the Sieg factory! This was the only still I could get from his video as the rest of the time his leg was shaking too much doing Elvis impressions.

He also asked me to urge you to take advantage of the large amount of stock that has now been reduced and listed under Clearance Items on ARC's site. This is to make way for all the goodies he can manage to sneak through customs in his large suitcase when he returns - if you can't beat them join them

Edited By David Standing 1 on 11/01/2019 09:19:42

I am in the US. I can get things from China for less than the postage cost of a domestic purchase. I hate subsidizing Chinese products through the postal rates.

I saw a restored CA Mann lathe from about 1905 fail to sell on ebay listed at £300 last year presumably because everyone was buying the equivalent size shiny new import for £2500. Both could make a ME happy in his workshop and make a 5in loco nicely.
The point being that cost does not equate to capability and satisfaction. The earlier evaluation of national median wealth is utterly meaningless when a small flat in London costs £million and in parts of China is just £1000 and in parts of Africa is £50.
It's as meaningless as the people who whinge about some African gold miner living on only £5 a week ignoring that he pays no income tax, no rent, no poll tax, no VAT, no TV licence, no heating bill and his food is grown free on the land he appropriated. The £5 buys five gallons of palm wine.