Have some foreign sellers found a loophole in our Aust post/Ebay Parcel system?

[gadget_shack_online]

I have been doing my research using Terapeak and I have come across a few sellers that are selling products that have no option to be sent by parcel as they won’t fit in the 2cm regular mail size limits e.g. laser computer mouse. But they are selling these products for less than what just the postage should cost them!

As far as I know Australia Post has the cheapest parcel rate @ $7.22 for a 500g satchel. How can somebody sell a computer mouse for $6.00 and pay $7.22 for postage?

The interesting thing is that all of these sellers are located in Darwin. Have they found a loophole that we don’t know about?

Are they saying they are located in Darwin but are in fact in Indonesia? This would explain why they don’t have any negative feedback in regards to the parcel being really late, which they would have if it was posted from China. What the hell is going on and how can they get away with it???

[davidc4430]

yep, i agree with you, dont know how they do it.

20 years ago when the cheap import shops were first apearing on ever street corner i can remember walking around in them thinking, how can they make all this stuff, import it into australia and sell it and make a profit?

it killed the australian manufacturing industy.

the stuff selling on ebay is just taking it to the next level, no bricks and mortar stores to operate or staff to pay, so stuff is even cheaper.

i must confess i buy some of the rediculously cheap chinese stuff from time to time.

[*tippy*toes*]

You'd probably find they are in Asia somewhere,  most likely China. Have a look under the postage tab in the listings and it will most likely not say they are being posted via Australia Post.

The only other thing it could be if they are really in Aus is a loss leader. Sell something at below cost in the hope that buyers will look at their other stuff and buy that as well while they're there.

I reckon it would be option A though. It's surprising how many Chinese sellers say they are in Darwin. 

[twyngwyn]

the only ones I can see are from Asia....can you give a title description of one of them?

[pennyforum14]

Big businesses can negotiate better rates with Auspost based on volume, just like goverment departments do.  It can be as much as 30% if the volume is high enough, I have even seen some mention of  flat rate deals which means they pay the same rate per parcel regardless of weight and size (although I imagine large appliance items would be treated separately).  Then it becomes a swings and roundabouts thing.  If their negotiated rate is say $8  parcel, then small items are going to cost them a little more, but not as much as they save when they send a large item, so the big stuff subsidises the small.  Most large businesses account for postage as a single line item against the monthly profit, not as individual costs against individual items, so as long as they pay less overall they are in front.

[kopenhagen5]

I am guessing they are from China.

China subsidizes companies exporting so they get free postage.

The Chinese will also subsidize Chinese nationals wanting to set up business abroad.

[lyndal1838]

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@gadget_shack_online wrote:

The interesting thing is that all of these sellers are located in Darwin. Have they found a loophole that we don’t know about?

Are they saying they are located in Darwin but are in fact in Indonesia? This would explain why they don’t have any negative feedback in regards to the parcel being really late, which they would have if it was posted from China. What the hell is going on and how can they get away with it???

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The dead giveaway is the location being Darwin.   It is well known that these sellers are more likely to be in China.

Have a look at the seller's Profile.....odds on they are registered in China or Hong Kong.

[davidc4430]

often in feedback you will get buyers complaining items are not in darwin but in china