I had the same thought. It seems like it would be cheaper to send everything over in one crate and then send it out via local post once it's in country. I wonder if that would simplify customs or make it more difficult.
The odd thing is that international shipping rates are often lower than domestic shipping rates and don't vary much by destination country, so this can be a losing strategy.
International rates are regulated by the Universal Postal Union. Well, the rates that the postal provider pays is regulated, they can charge you as they please. I suspect the rates for the postal providers are just per ton or container, regardless of the number of packages, and in HK/China, they pass on the savings to the sender.
My Square reader came to Canada from somewhere in Europe (I think).
I'll also add that many of my HK/China packages come "Registered". It must be really cheap or free. This can be annoying, and I wonder if it's even optional, or standard.
I suspect there are fulfillment companies that you could inventory with who would have the required volumes per country.....if you weren't doing custom orders (every package is the same each month, or only a few variations) this could work very well. I'd say the revenues are enough that you could even hire a locally based person to do some part time quality control.
Or possibly the Japanese manufacturers/distributors could send the whole batch to some low(er)-cost locale for P&P. It's hard to say whether they'd be more or less amenable to exporting their wares.
I was referring to sending a crate to HK, and then having everything trans-shipped from there because shipping from HK appears to be far cheaper than Japan (which I believe has the highest postage rates in the world). There should be no duties as they're goods-in-transit.
The odd thing is that international shipping rates are often lower than domestic shipping rates and don't vary much by destination country, so this can be a losing strategy.
International rates are regulated by the Universal Postal Union. Well, the rates that the postal provider pays is regulated, they can charge you as they please. I suspect the rates for the postal providers are just per ton or container, regardless of the number of packages, and in HK/China, they pass on the savings to the sender.
My Square reader came to Canada from somewhere in Europe (I think).
I'll also add that many of my HK/China packages come "Registered". It must be really cheap or free. This can be annoying, and I wonder if it's even optional, or standard.