Were making it cheaper to import product from across the globe than to manufacture and ship across town.
Its in most countries interest to build things locally if they can. A policy which penalizes a local business in favor of a foreign one is pathological.
We already ship food stuffs from the USA to China where it is processed and it gets sent back to the USA, because the cost to do this shipping back and forth and labor is so low it undercuts any North American processor. This is what free trade and low cost of bunker fuel, zero consequences for heavy pollution for container ships have wrought.
I often see the same or similar item on aliexpress for about 2-3 eurobucks, while the local shop will happily sell it to me for 20. It isn't even 2 bucks for chinese product versus the one manufactured locally, it's literally the same thing.
> It isn't even 2 bucks for chinese product versus the one manufactured locally, it's literally the same thing.
Well, at least if the thing is broken during 2 years post purchase, I can send it back to the seller and either get a repair or my money back, I don't have to pick up the parcel from customs in person (this one is a common annoyance for Germans, made more difficult by the ridiculous opening hours and the Zollämter only being present in the major cities), shipment is faster than 4 weeks aka "economy" and if it burns down my house I can at least drag some poor sod in front of a court and hope they got a corporate liability insurance.
All of that costs money, hence the thing being re-sold for what appears to be a ridiculous markup.
> Well, at least if the thing is broken during 2 years post purchase, I can send it back to the seller and either get a repair or my money back
> if it burns down my house I can at least drag some poor sod in front of a court and hope they got a corporate liability insurance.
Valid but I doubt a more thorough warranty is worth more than 5-20%.
> I don't have to pick up the parcel from customs in person
Does that actually make the shipping from china cheaper, though? Probably not. Paying to avoid an artificial barrier is a pretty bad justification for price.
> shipment is faster than 4 weeks aka "economy"
If that's a big factor, wouldn't I be able to get similar super cheap prices with slow shipping from an in-country warehouse? Because I don't see that, I see prices that are similar to going to the store.
I agree with the "build things locally" thing, but that only works for products that are popular enough in an area/country to justify production, and, through economy of scale, allow for a low enough price to be competitive.
Meanwhile those who need some niche items, for example people with a niche hobby, end up having to pay more for the same things, because they simply have no other choice. Or if they're lucky they can pay several times the price to a local (usually online) store, getting the same product, probably from the exact same factory line, just for several times the price, because now there's an extra middleman.
I suspect the causation is point the other wat -- people who don't have a path forward in life (which includes unemployed and otherwise destitute) start doing drugs.
But it also employs nobody. If everyone's jobless what's the point? Is the end goal really manufacturing everything offshore and employing nobody? How the heck is that sustainable? What would such an economy even look like?
Its in most countries interest to build things locally if they can. A policy which penalizes a local business in favor of a foreign one is pathological.