I'm in Australia ...shipping costs with import taxes have almost tripled from two years ago, and anything from Europe isn't worth ordering due to exchange rates alone.

Is there some kind of shortage on trucking fuel there or the additive, because that's what raised costs here the fuel additive got stupidly expensive as its made in China.

TrashPanda wrote on 2023-04-16, 12:23:

I'm in Australia ...shipping costs with import taxes have almost tripled from two years ago, and anything from Europe isn't worth ordering due to exchange rates alone.

Is there some kind of shortage on trucking fuel there or the additive, because that's what raised costs here the fuel additive got stupidly expensive as its made in China.

I'm not exactly sure. But the systems I was looking at I had saved in my watch list and was thinking of purchasing them as the shipping was high, but acceptable. Then when I was looking thru my watch list yesterday, the shipping costs have doubled and nothing else changed. I looked and I could get similar systems from the other side of the world, shipped, cheaper (according to the prices listed on eBay with the exchange rates).

To me though, shipping is just crazy. It does NOT cost CAD$200+ to ship a simple thing such as a computer from one place to another.

You could ask the seller why the shipping cost doubled, they may know.

It’s not eBay, it’s the postal service. My Friend use to work for the U.S. postal service back in 1980’s when they were actually tuning a profit and stamps were 20–cents each. Ever since all this online shopping the postal service has become bogged down in packages.
They have to hire more employees to deliver packages.
Our mail men deliver large packages in the morning and regular junk mail in the afternoon.

The last time I shipped a whole desktop computer, and this was several years ago now when gas prices were cheap, 2000 miles just within the US, it was I think around $50. There was some cheaper shipping options, and more expensive ones, but I picked one that was better in my experience to not damage things.

Today, it's hard to say why things are happening. For one, I don't believe there is an over abundance of demand for shipping things. I can order things across the states and pretty much everything arrives in 3 days, even when I am off the beaten path. I just ordered something that is the size of a desktop computer, but certainly not the weight (only about 10 lbs) and it was free shipping, but I can't imagine it really was more than 10-15$. And that's ok at that rate, since we aren't talking about delicate electronics, if you ask me.

I can suggest that I do see many instances of ebay listing with what seems to be very high shipping costs like $30-40, which is something more than even the item costs, for small items. I think this is just a tactic, but since I am not that knowledgeable about all things ebay, I have no idea what the reason is. So when it comes to shipping out of the states, I can believe that sometimes shipping will be $100-$200 dollars for some things?? I sure hope you get really good packaging.

Wow, that's crazy. Most shipping costs for systems from the U.S. are ranging from $390 to $580 CAD. Though I did find a few that are still <$200. The latter seem to be ones that are up for bidding as opposed to buy-it-now listings.

Meanwhile, there are systems within Canada that range from $20 to $50 to ship.

Bizarre.

Intel486dx33 wrote on 2023-04-16, 15:40:

It’s not eBay, it’s the postal service. My Friend use to work for the U.S. postal service back in 1980’s when they were actually tuning a profit and stamps were 20–cents each. Ever since all this online shopping the postal service has become bogged down in packages.
They have to hire more employees to deliver packages.
Our mail men deliver large packages in the morning and regular junk mail in the afternoon.

That's not the main reason. The main reason USPS is having issues is because they are now required to have their pensions funded for years and years into the future.

And how would more business / more income be a bad thing unless they were not charging enough to even break even?

I just dug through my orders from last year and found a couple systems I ordered from the U.S. in March 2022.

Shipping was about $50-60 USD at that time.

That means these current shipping costs have gone up roughly 500-700% in a single year. That's just insane.

Love to know what is driving this, since I'm also noticing that it's not a blanket increase across the board. For example, when I look up comparable shipping costs for boxed PC games, shipping is a little bit higher (maybe 10% or so), but nothing as dramatic as the rise in shipping on computers.

TrashPanda wrote on 2023-04-16, 14:06:

You could ask the seller why the shipping cost doubled, they may know.

It's doubtful the sellers are even aware. When you list something on eBay and set shipping based on weight, the eBay calculator determines what the shipping cost will be for each person looking at that auction based on their shipping address. Unless of course the seller sets a flat shipping rate, then it is what it is.

Maybe an increase in the cost of shipping carriers within Canada, or something to do with import fees?

I'm just making assumptions here, but the cost to the environment of shipping stuff around the world must be pretty high. All that plastic in the packing materials, then the fuel and exhaust from all of the transport involved in getting it from A to B.

Don't get me wrong I'm one of the worst offenders, but the high cost of shipping has certainly slowed me down, so maybe there's a silver lining.

I'm in Canada too. From what I've seen, shipping prices tripled on everything. I rarely buy systems off of eBay, but I buy a lot of games. What used to ship for 15$ is now 45$ and 55$! Very stupid. And yes, many sellers aren't aware of it. I take screenshots of the shipping cost and send it to the seller and he goes: WTF?!

Turned out they were using the new stupid eBay International Shipping Program, which replaced the previous less-stupid-but-still-stupid Global Shipping Program, and tripled the price along the way despite eBay claiming it's cheaper for everybody.
The seller then changed the listing to offer also shipping using standard international shipping, which goes via USPS snail mail route, but the cost goes back to 13$‐15$ for a big box game. I think this clears USPS from being all at fault here.

My guess is that the new International Shipping Program is simply making customers always pay for a possible return label, as the program guarantees to the seller cost-free returns should any return ticket occur from the customer.
The Global Shipping Program was more reasonable (~25$) but didn't offer this feature AFAIK.. so there you go.

For reference, UPS gives me US-to-Canada two-day shipping labels for 16CAD (~12US) as a special customer. Imagine what kind of deals they could make with eBay then... It's a scam alright I'm telling you.

I'm not an American, but I heard the US gas prices has been going up lately. Perhaps it has something to do with the rise of shipping cost from the US?

wbahnassi wrote on 2023-04-17, 05:47:

Turned out they were using the new stupid eBay International Shipping Program, which replaced the previous less-stupid-but-still-stupid Global Shipping Program, and tripled the price along the way despite eBay claiming it's cheaper for everybody.
The seller then changed the listing to offer also shipping using standard international shipping, which goes via USPS snail mail route, but the cost goes back to 13$‐15$ for a big box game. I think this clears USPS from being all at fault here.

That must be it. I have noticed that shipping process for shipping items from the U.S. has changed recently. I've noticed I no longer get the same types of notifications, and the shipping route (via USPS) seems to be different.

At any rate, I'm now much less inclined to order anything in from the U.S. given these changes. Guess I'll focus on ordering from within Canada or Europe from now on.

Yes, there are many factors why the U.S. Postal service is NOT Turing a Profit but it started after about 1995.
But in order for them to turn a profit they need to charge more.
They was a time that they want to Shut down the US Postal Service and have it become a Privately owned Company.
After all American is a Capitalist Nation.
People want to Shrink the USA Government and have some departments go Private where privately own companies can
Run a business more efficient with less overhead and expenses.
Sure employee benefits and healthcare, vacations, salaries play a big part too.

^That sounds like a horror scenario indeed.
Here in Germany, privatization wasn't exactly rainbows and sunshine.
We had a federal postal service (Deutsche Bundespost) that did split up in Telekom AG and Deutsche Post AG and Postbank (?) in the early 90s.

Later, Telekom also had its subsidiaries T-Mobile and T-Online. DHL parcel service also emerged.
At first, it looked very promising. The dusty old postal service/telephone service was being tansformed into a hip and modern company. Or so it seemed.

By the late 90s/early 00s, things had changed. At least in my opinion. Euphoria was gone, visions were gone.
The national online service (BTX/Datex-J) was retired, ISDN had been given up on, no more video telephony. Fibre glass now was their enemy. *sigh*

While the old postal service was very bureaucratic, slow and old-fashioned, it did at least do it's job dutiful and was dependable.
The equipment they had was rock solid and the telephone sockets they installed were of high quality and correct impedance etc. Their technicians were a bit outdated, but otherwise knew what they were doing in their job.

Nowadays, it's all cheap plastic, only a few true technicians remained. Or so it seems. Overall, it seems as if the company feels totally unresponsible towards citizens.
Anyway, that's merely little Germany.

The US is much bigger. I really wish them good luck, hopefully they won't lose their federal post-office soon. Capitalism is exploitation, after all. A private company wouldn't do much good, I'm afraid.

I'm very grateful our drinking water is still under supervision by the state/city/government and not in the hands of private companies.
Once that's the case, quality would drop soon, I'm afraid. The equipment wouldn't be serviced anymore, bacteria would infect people etc.
Because, even now, there's a money shortage. There water is a bit too calcareous in my city, but there's no extra money available to install additional filters at the water works.

Jo22 wrote on 2023-04-17, 19:28:

Capitalism is exploitation,

That is nonsense. If you're talking about crony capitalism, then I'm will you. The US is mostly socialist as it is.

Meatball wrote on 2023-04-17, 19:34:

Jo22 wrote on 2023-04-17, 19:28:

Capitalism is exploitation,

That is nonsense. If you're talking about crony capitalism, them I'm will you. The US is mostly socialist as it is.

In east Germany, I was told, there was a propaganda slogan that said "Capitalism is exploitation of man by man himself".
It's propaganda, of course. But it also contains a bit of truth, maybe.

If profits is the driving factor, the human comes second, environment the last.
History proved this many times in the past.
The other extreme isn't any better, of course.
That's why we use the Rhine model in Germany. Capitalism, but socialized. It almost works.

Maybe future generations will think out of the box and find other models in which the environment and the people are on focus, not economics and nations.

Meatball wrote on 2023-04-17, 19:34:

The US is mostly socialist as it is.

Edit: Not by European standards, I think. The US is more like super capitalism to us.
Or so it used to be. That's a term I often heard in the past.
Edit: ^Just checked. Super capitalism is a global phenomenon by now.

The concept of "hire and fire" isn't exactly common here, either.
There are many subtle differences in employment and other social structures it seems.
Unfortunately, I'm not competent enough to judge or make a comparison here. 🤷‍♂️

Jo22 wrote on 2023-04-17, 19:41:

Maybe future generations will think out of the box and find other models in which the environment and the people are on focus, not economics and nations.

It's a nice thought.

Meatball wrote on 2023-04-17, 19:52:

Jo22 wrote on 2023-04-17, 19:41:

Maybe future generations will think out of the box and find other models in which the environment and the people are on focus, not economics and nations.

It's a nice thought.

Yes, I think the same. ^^
In science fiction, it works. The idea is to satisfy the basic needs of people.
Groceries, a warm home, medical care, no taxes..
Once that's solved, people are truely free and can start to improve themselves and society.
That's why synthesizers and 3-D printers are such an interesting concept, I suppose.

Edit: Sorry me for being too chatty again. I didn't mean to offend anymore, either.
Many places around the globe have their own problems right now, my place is no different, I suppose.
What I wrote about privatization merely is my personal experience so far, also.
Maybe a fellow citizen has another opinion about it, not sure. 🤷‍♂️