Advertisement
If you have a new account but are having problems posting or verifying your account, please email us on hello@boards.ie for help. Thanks :)
Hello all! Please ensure that you are posting a new thread or question in the appropriate forum. The Feedback forum is overwhelmed with questions that are having to be moved elsewhere. If you need help to verify your account contact hello@boards.ie
Hi there,
There is an issue with role permissions that is being worked on at the moment.
If you are having trouble with access or permissions on regional forums please post here to get access: https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058365403/you-do-not-have-permission-for-that#latest

How is it possible for companies to post stuff without charging the consumer

  • 24-05-2013 8:50pm
    #1
    My name is URL
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 25,070 ✭✭✭✭


    I'm talking about the likes of DealXtreme and certain e-bay sellers etc. What is it that allows for them to offer free postage to Europe from almost the other side of the world?

    I've never really considered it before now. Just spent €1.40 I had left over on a 3v voucher on a phone-mount for the car and postage was fee.

    Kind of boggles the mind considering how much it would cost us to post it in the opposite direction!


Comments

  • #2
    Vojera
    Closed Accounts Posts: 2,812 ✭✭✭Vojera


    I would guess that the likes of DealXtreme have a really high throughput and post hundreds of packages per day. The rates the post office or couriers give businesses like that are a fraction of what Joe Soap pays. I imagine they absorb whatever low postage prices they have into the cost of each item.

    Edit: There are also the likes of Book Depository where postage is "free" but the price of products actually varies from country to country, so you're actually paying for postage without realising it.


  • #3
    dudara
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 33,518 ✭✭✭✭dudara


    It's probably a mixture of absorbing the costs into product pricing, and negotiating bulk rates with postal services/couriers.


  • #4
    rubadub
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 32,386 ✭✭✭✭rubadub


    I used to buy from ebay sellers a lot more, smaller ones will use actual stamps, it was fairly cheap to send stuff from Hong Kong with normal mail, you could see the value of the stamps while DX do not really disclose it.

    I think amazon & play ship in bulk to a country and then can have other couriers there.

    The other question is usually "how is it worth their while", but wages are very low so selling a just a few items per day might mean some Chinese guy is making more than he would working hard in a factory nearby.


Advertisement