The shipping company he uses is a bit meh as best and maybe even sketchy sometimes. My biggest issue so far is with the lack of communication from the sipping co. When thy do update the status, a few days have passed, and several stops have been made alone the way. My last delivery sat in LA for 4 days and then they updated as said it was out for delivery but actually delivered it the next day.
They tend to be behind in status updates by about 1-4 days. Slow shipping and poor communication. One has to be patient and not expect it to come from a warehouse in the US...which would be nice but would also raise the cost and not actually raise any value of the product.
I'm whining a bit about the shipping, but I really can't tbh. It's free and no taxes.
To be fair, I am almost certain these small shops are using the companies subsidized by the CCP. In order to boost sales, the CCP essentially will cover the costs of shipping, so Chinese companies can get something akin to the old "media mail" USPS used to have, but globally.
It also has to do with skirting tariffs and import rules. This is why the CCP has been a big proponent of sites like Temu and AliExpress; many small businesses shipping small loads works a lot better for them then shipping large loads to a distributor in the U.S. This means China can move a LOT more inventory, and NOT have to deal with a lot of the protective aspects of import laws, since it's all small dollar amounts. To further encourage that, it only costs like $2 to ship to the U.S. FROM China so long as you are doing it as one of these businesses. I think we look at the success of Temu and Ali as this triumph of innovation and tech companies, but it was also a lot of push by the CCP to move inventory without having to deal with trade rules, haha.
That's why, when there is warranty work, it doesn't really make sense, because then you and the vendor both have to pay the REAL shipping costs, which are often about $25 each way to/from the U.S. The CCP doesn't subsidize ALL shipping to/from China, only if it contributes to their e-commerce industry, and only OUT.
Of course, ramming billions of random small parcels through your mail/shipping system is bound to make it essentially awful, and not that Chinese shipping/postal companies have a great reputation to begin with.
I think, considering the price, Chinese shipping is fine. But, it is 100% a lot of radio silence.
The funny thing for me is that almost ALL my Chinese light purchases ship out from the same Sesame Street address (it's real) from a shipping forwarder outside of O'hare Airport in Chicago. It looks like a non-descript warehouse right outside the airport (according to Google maps), but I've noticed both Convoy and Kaidomain ship to me (in the Midwest) from the exact same U.S. address, which is tied to a shipping forwarding company at the address.
