🚀 go-pugleaf

Phil Hobbs wrote:
> Sounds like a bargain to me.  Very few other organizations would leave 
> money on the table like that.  I sure wouldn't.  Would you?

It depends upon wat you consider a fair price and what you want people to do.
If you want people from the US to NOT export cheap items then you keep your
postal rates high. 

If you want everyone to have a small business selling items over the internet
then you keep your postal prices low. 

> Plus they save on duty by claiming that everything is a gift.  Such 
> generous folks, those Chinese.

The only gift is to the customs officers receiving the packages. If it is
a gift and the price is low, then they can pass it without inspection, and
if it is inspected just look for the diamonds, guns, drugs, etc hidden
in it. 

For example,  just ordered about several each of 10 different items 
(around 40 items in all), from a vendor in Hong Kong. If he sent it to a 
US address and lists it as a gift, the US customs can do a quick inspection
if they do any at all. 

If he declares each item, and they inspect the package, they have to figure
out which is which, measure and weigh them and ascertain that they are
what is claimed, and the weight matches. 

In this case most of the items were some some sort of USB fob, so good luck.

> What treaties are those, and do they guarantee the same rates for everyone?

They are international postal treaties and the guarantee the same rates
between signatories. Or in plain English, each country pays the other
the same rates, but are free to charge their internal customers anything
they want. 

>
> Depends what's important to you, of course.  Mostly when I'm in Europe I 
> do my calling over wifi using UMA, so it costs the same as at home.  But 
> I only go there every couple of years.

Assuming you can find WiFi. Some places think free wifi is a right, others
charge you high rates for it.

Geoff.


-- 
Geoffrey S. Mendelson,  N3OWJ/4X1GM/KBUH7245/KBUW5379
"Owning a smartphone: Technology's equivalent to learning to play
chopsticks on the piano as a child and thinking you're a musician."
(sent to me by a friend)