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In February and March of this year, foreign customers asked Chinese sellers: Can you still ship? In April and May, Chinese sellers asked their foreign customers: Can you still receive the goods? The COVID-19 epidemic involved the first half domestically and the second half overseas, with cross-border e-commerce playing the entire game. At this moment, Amazon's Chinese sellers are experiencing the "butterfly effect" of the global epidemic, with various problems emerging one after another. Among them, logistics issues have a particularly prominent impact on cross-border sellers. Due to changes in the overseas epidemic and social situation, cross-border logistics issues and price adjustments have become more frequent. The price is too high, the warehouse is not enough, the timeliness is too slow, and all these blows give sellers a headache. The slightest change will affect the seller's sales situation. All these factors affect the seller's sensitive and fragile nerves. As early as April, the logistics circle ushered in the first wave of price increases. The logistics prices of China Post products are all on the rise. The price of air freight to the United States once exceeded 175 yuan/kg. FedEx has raised the surcharge rates for packages exported from mainland China. Various service fees, surcharges and logistics costs put sellers under heavy burden. At the end of May, sellers suffered another blow. Riots broke out in the United States, and the social situation was turbulent. Many people took to the streets to protest and participate in looting. Many physical stores in the United States were looted, and even Amazon's delivery trucks were killed. Under this situation, the final delivery of goods has also become a problem. Not only is the delivery efficiency slow, but there is also the risk of goods being robbed. Moreover, this situation is a politically uncontrollable factor, and the seller may not be able to ask for compensation, and can only swallow the bitter pills and have no way to express his grievances. Before one wave of price increases comes, logistics will usher in a new wave of price increases in the near future. UPS and FedEx announce temporary surcharges
UPS announced that starting May 31, UPS will charge a surcharge of 30 cents per package for users of UPS Ground and SurePost services. The surcharge is imposed on shippers who average more than 25,000 packages per week in February; for large packages longer than 96 inches or circumference over 130 inches, an additional $31.45 will be charged per shipment. This surcharge will apply to shippers who ship more than 500 large packages in a week.
The new fees will hit large, high-volume shippers and companies that deliver oversized items. They could drive up costs at a time when many retailers are fighting for profits. FedEx then announced the implementation of three temporary surcharges. FedEx will implement three temporary surcharges starting June 8, 2020: 1. FedEx SmartPost package: $0.4 per package (FedEx SmartPost is a dedicated service only under contract).
2. Oversized package fee: US$30 per package for domestic FedEx and FedEx Ground packages (an oversized package is any package longer than 96 inches or more than 130 inches in length and girth).
3. Home delivery fee: US$0.3 per package for FedEx and FedEx Ground packages within the United States (applicable to enterprise-level customers whose business volume exceeds 120% of their typical weekly business volume). US international parcel prices increase, cross-border shipping costs may increase by 100% According to China Postal Express News, starting from July 1, the United States, the only member country that implements the conditions of the custom terminal fee system, will soon implement custom terminal fees, which means raising prices for international parcels entering the United States. According to Supply Chain Dive, Kate Muth, executive director of International Mail Advisory Group IMAG, revealed that at the end of May, integrated logistics service providers, postage product sellers and other cross-border service providers including Ascendia, a subsidiary of La Poste, DHL e-commerce, EasyPost, an application interface company that integrates data from major well-known transportation companies, FedEx Cross-Border, Passport Shipping, an international e-commerce express company, as well as Pitney Bowes, an e-commerce, transportation, mail and data processing service company, logistics company Shippo, Stamps.com, a software provider for the US Postal Service's express and transportation business, and United Parcel Service have all locked in new contracts with the US Postal Service under the upcoming rate system. Many US Postal partners have not yet notified their shippers of the price increase. Muth said that the future rates for shippers are very variable, but IMAG members expect that the US Postal Service's mail rates from China will increase by 100% or much higher than the current rate level. Freight rates from the United States to Canada will also increase by more than 50%, especially for light and small items.
Previously, AliExpress announced that starting from June 5, China Post adjusted the quotes for online delivery of "China Post Ordinary Small Parcel +" and "China Post Registered Small Parcel". From the quote table, it can be seen that the freight rates for most European and American routes have increased. Online delivery logistics orders created by sellers from 0:00 on June 5, 2020 will be settled according to the new quotes. Currently, E-Post and Postal International Parcel surcharges are the first to adjust the transportation surcharges, and the transportation surcharges of Air International Parcel will be adjusted soon. Either the freight rate has increased or the additional service fees have increased. Looking at the decreasing orders and rising logistics prices, sellers have complained: It feels like they have been working for logistics companies this year. Other sellers said that logistics prices are changing very rapidly now, sometimes changing once or even several times a day, which is unbearable. However, the problem of logistics is far more than just freight. Some sellers reported that their goods have not been checked in for a week after signing for them, and some have not been put on the shelves for even half a month. The sellers joked that shipping goods is even harder than obtaining Buddhist scriptures from the West! ▲ Picture source: Knowing everything Due to the dual impact of the epidemic and the riots, it is difficult to guarantee the timeliness of logistics, and the final delivery is even more precarious. This has triggered a series of chain reactions, including a large number of buyers canceling orders, giving bad reviews, and initiating A to Z. Seller: Goodbye, I’m going to set up my stall.
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