Foreign Sellers

[accessoutdoorequipment4you]

I'm an Australian seller trying to make a few dollars after expensive national postage fees, my question is why are foreign sellers (example China Hong Kong sellers with very cheap shipping fees) listings are placed before local sellers in there own country where foreign sellers products are up to half the price.

I find this is wrong & I hope eBay Australia will see this & start supporting local economys first before foreign sellers, national local sellers listings should be first, not foreign listings. 

[maranock]

I wouldn't hold your breath. This has been an issue for many sellers for years. Ebay is not going to do anything about it as they bring in the moola.

There are ways for local sellers to compete - not all buyers are just after the lowest priced products. Many buyers appreciate better customer service, faster postage, hand made or different products that are not mass produced. Sometimes you just have to use your imagination to compete.

[kopenhagen5]

Chinese sellers are located all around the globe now and ship from China.

The Chinese government subsidises shipping for goods sent out of China.

When I search items I tick Australia only.

Then I check the account registration before I buy and if anything looks slightly foreign in the listing, I go to the next.

I don't buy the cheapest, I look for quality and good service.

[south.coffee]

If it's only taken you until 2020 to work this out then you must have your nead buried in the sand.  The Chinese worked out drop-shipping and freight consolidation 6 years ago and nearly half of them now use this method to make their products cheaper and arrive faster.

Buyers are slowly working this out and after a couple of bad experiences with lengthy delivery times, habits change.

[imastawka]

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@accessoutdoorequipment4you wrote:

I'm an Australian seller trying to make a few dollars after expensive national postage fees, my question is why are foreign sellers (example China Hong Kong sellers with very cheap shipping fees) listings are placed before local sellers in there own country where foreign sellers products are up to half the price.

I find this is wrong & I hope eBay Australia will see this & start supporting local economys first before foreign sellers, national local sellers listings should be first, not foreign listings. 

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There's flat rate postage Australia wide now.

https://auspost.com.au/flat-rate-sending

[porcelain_dolls_by_me]

It is in fact the Australian taxpayer that subsidises the cheap postal rates from China.  Rates are agreed/set under the International Postal Agreement.

Trump recognised this subsidy was haveing a detrimental impact on the USA economy and threatened to walk away from the agreement.  Not sure where the issue currently stands

[south.coffee]

Change is in the winds with the Universal Postal Union's third Extraordinary Congress in Switzerland in September 2019.

The playing field might get a little more level with China Post having to charge more for international postage as destination Postal Agencies (Australia Post) can now up their delivery prices.  However if China Post receives a postal subsidy from it's Government, that advantage goes out the window..  at least Australia Post will receive higher revenue, but hopefully won't inprove inbound delivery times for foreign mail.

"The Congress approved a proposal known as “Option V” by acclamation during its second day of discussions. The proposal will see the UPU accelerate rate increases to the system used to remunerate the delivery of inbound international bulky letters and small packets, phasing in self-declared rates as soon as July 2020".

[south.coffee]

One good global outcome from Donald Trump's trade war with China was the threat of pulling US Postal Service out of the Universal Postal Union, which would of made the delivery of inbound mail to the USA far more expensive but aimed pretty much at China Post operations.

http://news.upu.int/no_cache/nd/upu-head-meets-with-us-president-following-geneva-agreement-on-remun...

[south.coffee]

Judging by this article, it appears the Chinese Government will throw in more money to China Post to offset the extra fee's they will pay foreign postal agencies to deliver inbound Chinese mail.  So looks like the cost of sending mail for Chinese sellers will remain the same.

Bugger.

https://apnews.com/1e7020752c854accb3279aaba52cfb14