OT: How USPS destroys American jobs

I hate to ask, but what are you talking about, USPS has discontinued surface mail??? They offer Priority mail for a fixed $5.75 for up to 4 lb if it fits the envelope or their box. How big was this thing?

If you don't like USPS shipping, use Fedex or UPS. I don't get your problem. Sometimes I think you just like to gripe.

How are the rules stupid? For international postal mail, the sending country keeps the money, the receiving side gets nothing and just delivers it. This agreements predates everybody here.

Your $16 shipping fee helped pay for the deliver of tons of garbage from china in the US, of which the UPSP received nothing to deliver.

If your question was "how can we compete with slave labor?" well, that's a good one to try to figure out.

I can't remember the details, but it has to do with international treaties, and China gaming the system by subsidizing their outgoing mail. The US postal service is at the mercy of federal rules, so they're not the ones doing the damage.

If I'm getting this right, most postal treaties are reciprocal, and assume that roughly the same amount of mail is going in each direction -- so basically, China agrees to deliver incoming mail from the US in return for the US delivering incoming mail from China. The deal is set up as a barter of services, and no money changes hands.

You could try raising this with your congresscritters -- they may actually be able to do something about it. Asking US Customs to be more critical of stuff coming in marked "gift" would be a good start.

BTW, USPS ground shipping is called "Standard Post".

Try reading: "Just shipped some electronics to Europe..."

That's not stupid?

First time I've ever heard the USPS being described as "slave labor".

Op 10/09/2015 om 12:24 AM schreef Joerg:

Quit whining and buy stuff for $5 and sell it for $20. Be glad USPS doesn't take the $15 you can make! :-)

Hey, don't insult Ricky for being simultaneously obnoxious and obtuse.

That's my job!

A small box, maybe 5" by 5" by 2" and very light.

Care to check their rates before blindly typing a response? You obviously didn't even read what I wrote.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

_Not_ available to overseas anymore. Please read more carefully.

It's too late. The only way you can compete in this game is to move operations to Manila or some other place. Which is exactly what many people I met did. That has cost scores of American jobs which will never come back.

I guess that is partly a reason why some of my designs are made in Guangdong province.

Strange. I just recently sent a similar package to the UK... ~$10

No. They're busy finding new ways to graft the system. ...Jim Thompson

Perhaps you haven't noticed that the Republicans and much of the US government has been doing their best to kill the USPS. For example, in 2006, the USPS was told to prepay $7 billion into their pension fund by congress. By 2012, the resulting deficit was about $20 billion. In effect, 100% of the profits from the USPS goes to the various 4 letter acronyms that administer their pension funds[1]. I suspect you can imagine what might do to postal rates, but that's also a mess. There are a few sacred cows in the rate schedule, such as junk mail, first class mail, book rate, competitive services such as parcel post, etc. However, international rates are not sacred or protected, so they get to take up the slack from the artificially low sacred cow rates. I can't offer much detail on the exact amounts but this is roughly what's been happening since 2006.

On Thu, 8 Oct 2015 18:45:06 -0400, rickman Gave us:

Within the continental US, sure.

I'm sorry, your words were "USPS has discontinued surface mail", not "USPS has discontinued surface mail to Europe".

Would you really be happy with the three or four weeks it would take for "surface" mail? That's what you get for $1 from China.

I still don't get what you are going on about. When was a package to Europe much less than $16?

You really *do* have a hardon for me.... I'm flattered... I think?!?

"Scores"??? You really worry about "scores" of jobs going overseas? Again, I think you obsess over little things.

}snip{

Manila? You just don't want your packages to be delivered, ever, do you? I'd suggest you choose "..or some other place..". :)

Some companies seem to ship container loads to China, have it repacked there and shipped for almost free to any destination in the world.

joe