Expensive overseas shipping charges from american shops?

Ok so this is not strictly photographic equipment-related, but anyway:

Why is it that shipping charges to Europe from many american equipment
shops are so high? The latest example when I was trying to buy a
Vivitar 285HV flash unit. I found (via Amazon.com) a store that sold
it for $89,90, a nice enough price. However they wanted $70 for
shipping and handling. Through eBay, I found a store in Hong Kong
that sold the same brand-new unit also for $89,90, but the shipping
was only $20. It arrived in a week, so clearly it wasn't even the
worst possible shipping option.

Many US stores seem to have some kind of fixation on using only the
finest and greatest possible shipping option - for example KEH. The
one they use is actually very very fast - a lens I bought was sent
Friday and I had it by Monday, couldn't have been faster if I had it
bought via mail-order from my own country. However buying smaller,
cheaper items simply isn't an option if shipping is going to be 2/3 of
the total cost.

(The same applies to some UK shops as well, I was trying to buy just a
couple of rolls of Ilford SFX 200 film. Shipping charges were anything
from 15 to 70 GBP (!) and I ended up buying the rolls from some UK
individual who charged only a couple of pounds for shipping.)

Toni Nikkanen wrote:
Why is it that shipping charges to Europe from many american equipment
shops are so high? The latest example when I was trying to buy a
Vivitar 285HV flash unit. I found (via Amazon.com) a store that sold
it for $89,90, a nice enough price. However they wanted $70 for
shipping and handling. Through eBay, I found a store in Hong Kong
that sold the same brand-new unit also for $89,90, but the shipping
was only $20. It arrived in a week, so clearly it wasn't even the
worst possible shipping option.


Look at the USPS web site. There used to be some cheap airmail package
rates (under $6 for 4 pounds for example), but they all disapeared in
the spring. The USPS figured out that the price point that people will pay
without giving up or using the competition is about half of what the
courier services charge.

Now an airmail package from the U.S. is $20 for the first pound
and $4 each extra pound, unless it fits in a special box, which is
$32.50 for up to 20 pounds. The box is relatively small so you can
stuff a lot of film or a camera or lens into it, but not an enlarging
easel or a box of large size print paper.

Geoff.
--
Geoffrey S. Mendelson, Jerusalem, Israel N3OWJ/4X1GM
IL Voice: (07)-7424-1667 U.S. Voice: 1-215-821-1838
Visit my 'blog at http://geoffstechno.livejournal.com/