Every so often, I sell used electronics technical and books on suitable
email lists. The cost for shipping a single book in the US by way of Media
Mail is usually less than $4. But, to mail one to Europe costs about $32, even
if the book is tightly wrapped, about 2" by 8" by 15" at most, and it can take
more than two weeks to arrive.
Today I received in the mail a used bicycle handlebar and stem from an
eBay seller in France. According to the postage meter on the package, it cost
11.50 Euros to mail it, and it got here in just under ten days. The package is
roughly 8" square and 18" long. Compare this to mailing a book having far less
volume and similar weight from the US to Europe.
I can't help but wonder why there is such a gargantuan difference in the
cost of shipping merchandise from one direction to the other. I'm aware that
the Irish government subsidises mail to the US by tossing everything on an air
freighter in Dublin, delivering it to an air terminal in New Jersey, and then
distributing it from there to the US destinations. Australia and New Zealand
have something similar.
Two thoughts come to mind: First, the European governments subsidise
overseas mail in support of the citizens and commerce, which benefits society
as a whole. Secondly, and maybe more important, their postal services are far
more efficient, whereas ours is continually threatening to go under at any
moment. I can think of a number of other issues where Europeans outsrtip their
US counterparts.
I blame society.
Chris
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