Hacker News Reader

Comment by Rebelgecko | Hacker News Reader

Its slightly ridiculous that a company in the same city as me has to pay more to mail me a package than a company in China. Especially if the difference in shipping costs is subsidized by American taxpayers. I'm not crazy about tariffs, but I'm even less crazy about the idea of the USPS giving foreign companies such a huge advantage over domestic ones

View on HN

It's also true in china. When I used to live in china, for same day delivery in Shanghai I had to book a cab for $40

Why is ridiculous or even remarkable? Pretty much every 3rd party service that an American-based company uses costs significantly more than an equivalent in China. And most of these costs are far more significant than the cost of postage (e.g. wages and salaries, rents, etc.) unless you're involved in a very low value-add business.

I find it ridiculous because it's not a comparison between the USPS and a similar service in China. Both companies are getting the same service in America, but the foreign companies get it much more cheaply. To the point that shipping something from China to the US, then from the US to me is cheaper than an American company shipping something directly to me. I'm guilty of buying plenty of $1-$2 dollar knicknacks with free epacket shipping on AliExpress. An American company can't even compete, because shipping alone is going to cost them more than the $1-$2 I paid for the Chinese item

>Both companies are getting the same service in America, but the foreign companies get it much more cheaply.

The fact that you have to explicitly point this out to derriz ...

Reply on news.ycombinator.com