First post, by aries-mu
Guys... I did it!
I had that enlightening moment about this issue! That idea that is so simple and so effective to test a hunch.
As vintage computing passionate, I'm sure you all stumbled upon the terrible obstacle of the bloody SHIPPING COSTS!
This happens especially for international shipping!
Those who live in Canada can find NOTHING (but sugar, milk, and flour or other ordinary items), and gotta order everything from the US or overseas.
Ever tried to order ANYTHING! (even a thin CD disc with some drivers in a thin and light letter envelope) to import from the US? Forget anything lower than 20 - 30 bucks only for shipping. I suspected it wasn't a physical or geographical barrier but just politics / policies. Like shipping companies saying like: "oh hey, you're in another country!!!!! [as if it was another freaking planet], you gotta pay me more!!!".
Well, today I had that idea to test the theory.
I wanted to QUANTIFY how much is geographical distance (real costs for the shipping company, fuel, wear and tear, etc.) and how much is sh***y policies.
VGA card on eBay, tried different countries and zip codes.
US to US: $ 6.70
US to Canada: $ 19.12
+ import theft...ehm... pardon, import taxes at $21
And finally, the IDEA!!!! LET ME CHECK ALASKA!!!!
US to US Alaska: $ 6.70
Now, you tell me, how comes it is PHYSICALLY / LOGISTICALLY possible for a shipping company to ship something all the way to Alaska which is BEYOND the whole freaking huge distance of the entire size of Canada, with ZERO additional cost than any other US State (not talking about the environmental struggles of getting there!), but to ship right close to the border to Canada (like Toronto, come on, we're basically US considering the parallels) the cost is usually triple if not more?
I understand the import tax duties...ehm...theft, okay that's pure politics.
But what about the shipping company? Whether it's FedEx or UPS or DHL or whoever.... if they can ship to ALASKA for the same price, what additional costs do they undergo to get to Toronto???
So, again, back to quantifying the theft, the conclusion of my assessment is:
Additional shipping costs from US to Canada:
• Real additional physical/fuel/wear and tear difficulties: zero (Alaska is way worse)
• Real additional geographical difficulties: zero (Alaska is crappier)
• Real additional distance-related difficulties: zero (Alaska is way farther)
• BS policies (just because it's another country) / aka arbitrary crap: 100%
Opinions?
Thanks
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