40% of Amazon Sellers are Based in China

[glakes]

From a PC Mag story at: [pcmag.com...]

Over 40 Percent of Amazon's Sellers Are Based in China

As Marketplace Pulse reports, the latest business information data released by Amazon's different regional websites reveals that an average of 40 percent or more of sellers are based in China. That's based on data collected from the top 10,000 sellers and is a huge increase from the 26 percent seen just two years ago.

In two years, the number of Chinese based sellers on Amazon.com is estimated to have risen 14%.

The Marketplace Pulse report referenced in this story can be found at: [marketplacepulse.com...]

China share of sellers in the Amazon.com marketplace in the US is at least 40% or even higher. Unfortunately, Amazon.com marketplace is anonymous; however, Amazon.com is the largest marketplace and hence the highest priority for international sellers. It is not unreasonable to expect that the first marketplace international sellers launch in is Amazon.com.

[piatkow]

Much the same in the UK. I took an offer of Prime free for a month as I wanted to order some clothing. No next day delivery, it was all shipped direct from China. I cancelled the order and Prime.

[engine]

It's also interesting that the sellers often try to hide their location knowing that many people won't buy if there is an extended delivery.

[Dimitri]

What about importation taxes with these sellers?

[LifeinAsia]

One thing most people don't realize is that merchants in China pay LESS to ship small packages (up to 4.4 lbs. / 2 kg.) to U.S. customers than U.S. merchants pay to ship the same package WITHIN the U.S. (No idea about the issue for other countries.)

[tangor]

Should be no surprise ... China, by itself, is what ... 40% of the world's population? That is a significant market force.

[Essex_boy]

Not surprised, they have access to cheap(ish) items my problem is:

Qulaity (!)
Speed of shipping
Poor customer service.

Hence I will not order from China, prefer them to be UK based. One thing I noticed that China based merchants 'seem' to have a UK base from which to ship from.....

[topr8]

>>One thing most people don't realize is that merchants in China pay LESS to ship small packages (up to 4.4 lbs. / 2 kg.)

yes i know, it's an unfair business practice ... it's like a government subsidy, which means it is unfair trading. but such is life.
however as most (or a lot of) products are made in china anyway, if you buy them from your home country, the seller has bought them from china and you end up paying a very healthy mark-up.

[Dimitri]

Should be no surprise ... China, by itself, is what ... 40% of the world's population?

hum ... I am sorry to correct you ... but on Earth we are ~ 7.7 billions and China's population is ~1.4 billions , ... so China is ~ 18% only :)

By the way, there is almost as many Indians as Chineses too.

[TorontoBoy]

>>One thing most people don't realize is that merchants in China pay LESS to ship small packages (up to 4.4 lbs. / 2 kg.)

yes i know, it's an unfair business practice ... it's like a government subsidy, which means it is unfair trading. but such is life.

The Universal Postal Union [en.wikipedia.org...] was established in 1874, 144 years ago, and is part of the UN. It sets international postage rates. China considers itself a developing country, but Trump, and I disagree. China is using the UPU for competitive advantage, as its rates are a fraction of the West. I can have something mailed from China for much less than across Canada.

The US has petitioned the UN agency to change this situation or the US might withdraw membership. China's UPU rates have helped them become a significant supplier of fentanyl to the West, causing a huge number of deaths. While fentanyl use is punishable by death in China, its manufacture and export are not.

Amazon is banned in China, so locals cannot see it. Sellers need to use a VPN, illegal in China, to post to Amazon. The UPU system is to China's competitive advantage. How the US will tax or stop this is difficult to see.

[IanTurner]

It is the same people selling on Amazon, eBay and AliExpress. You just find the one which is cheapest (rarely Amazon).

There are definite issues with the way things are at the moment from a competition point of view. Not only have you got the UPU situation, there is also the way China keeps its currency artificially low.

You can't blame the Chinese, all they have done is used the capitalist system more effectively that the Western 'Capitalist' countries. However it is a situation that is unstainable in the long term and that should even itself out as Chinese workers start to want more 'luxuries' for themselves. It is likely to be very painful for workers in less skilled jobs in the West.