[jlgaddis]

I read (here, in an HN thread, IIRC) a while back that the Chinese government eats the cost of shipping items outside of the country (I haven't verified that, however, so it may be entirely incorrect).

That was the reason given why you can purchase an item online from a Chinese seller for, say, $1 USD -- including shipping -- and the seller can still profit from it.

[mdrzn]

Can anyone find any source on that? Sounds like an interesting read.

[jeromegv]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/storyline/wp/2014/09/12/...

[icantdrive55]

Yes it's true. I just ordered some MR11 bulbs that are defective. (It might not be their fault. I think they send 220 volt, instead of 120volt halogen lamps.) It's not worth shipping them back. There's a weight/size limit, but many items are shipped free.

A bigger question. If more people took advantage of this free shipping paid for by the Chinese government; how would American companies compete?

(Since I here--Amazon has been slowly raising prices, and people don't seem to notice, or care. I noticed it with portable transistor radios at first, and MR11 bulbs lately. Personally, I'm getting tired of UPS trucks racing up and down my street, filled with a lot of stuff we probally don't need.)