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Why do (seemingly) so few merchants (from China) ship to Hong Kong?

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  1. #11

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    Quote Originally Posted by shri:
    Have ordered things like shoes, random pet stuff etc from ebay and have had it delivered to me here in HK within 10-12 days.

    Shoes in particular are cheaper via the ebay route than from HK retailers (ASICS - HK $11xx, Ebay: $6xx incl delivery)
    Again, wasn't taking shots at ebay or anyone, just ruminating on my (and others I've spoken to) anecdotal experiences vis a vis online shopping in HK. Could be nothing, could be something... just curious.

  2. #12

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    Quote Originally Posted by rook_hk:
    FWIW, two theories from another thread on why Chinese merchants would be reluctant to ship to HK (despite listing HK as their location).

    "I think the real reason is that the sellers on ebay having registered their company in HK use HK for processing payment only. When it comes to paying tax they need to prove to Inland Revenue that the business is not controlled in HK nor are any sales made in HK and therefore they are not liable to pay tax locally."

    "I'm guessing the companies are based in China, but truck the goods across into HK to mail. They get dirt cheap rates on airmail, but a HK shipment probably messes up their flows."


    As far as the specific items I purchased, the last three were a Xiaomi phone, Chromecast, fitness tracker (forget the brand), and specific Wifi Router. But prior to that it was even simple manufactured goods like a digital keyboard stand and stupid desk organizer thingy. All were widely available in most countries except HK.
    the fact is that are you looking in the right place for cheap items in HK, add on top shipping cost from states or Europe, surely some items are cheaper or the same locally sourced, unless you only shop in causeway bay, central and stores like broadway. fortress, etc,

    isn't xiaomi phone relatively cheap in HK as low as HK$990 official stock in HK for 2gb ram, MTK 64bit 4 core system on a chip

    Xiaomi 小米 紅米手機2 Dual SIM 增強版 - Smartphone 智能手機 - 手機 - 通訊 - 香港格價網 Price.com.hk

    chromecast available in google play at HK$310, real shop in sham shui po

    https://hk.f1.page.auctions.yahoo.co...1&actsrch=srp2

    Keyboard stand in sham shui po, real shop, only HK$99

    https://hk.search.auctions.yahoo.com...ext&s=curprice

    the fact is that some items are cheap, it depends where you look and if you're intimidated by the Chinese only menus on the website ( even I get this on simplified china only websites, but traditional Chinese , I am fine)
    Last edited by imparanoic; 22-04-2015 at 11:33 AM.

  3. #13

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    I don't doubt that these items aren't available in HK somewhere, I was simply curious if there was any specific reason why many online merchants, again, just in my experience, seemed to avoid shipping to HK.


  4. #14

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    Quote Originally Posted by rook_hk:
    I don't doubt that these items aren't available in HK somewhere, I was simply curious if there was any specific reason why many online merchants, again, just in my experience, seemed to avoid shipping to HK.
    Maybe they officially avoid shipping to HK for one of the reasons you quoted, but if you drop them an email or private message perhaps they'll oblige.

  5. #15

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    Low margin business is common in HK. Knowing the rents, I swear some of these little shops must be paying 5x NET profit in rent...it's easy to tell why they're so grumpy, imagine the stress!

    Last night I was remarking to my wife how bizzarre I found the long queue at our local petrol station...petrol was $1.2 per litre cheaper...even if they were all nearly empty, on a 65 litre fuel tank they could expect, at best, 80 bucks...so you have Mercedes Benz queuing for 20-30 minutes to save 80 bucks...it's a different mentality.


  6. #16

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    I have contacted a few china sellers on ebay, apparently the reason why they can't list hk on ebay is that it conflicts with taobao seller policy, hence, why they hide under the banner of a hk based ebay seller

    taobao discourages selling to their same ( though small) market in hk via different platforms and decreases their sellers validity/rating points if they find out


  7. #17

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    Quote Originally Posted by Rob2020:
    how about you educate me then?
    The question was why don't China merchants ship to HK. Your response was because HK/China companies have great rates shipping overseas. Shipping overseas cheaply is not exclusive of shipping to HK. Since it is the customer that ends up paying for international shipping anyways. Also, the OP wondered if the coincidence was due to the products he wanted, to which you said no coincidence and started on the cheaper shipping overseas. So I think you've totally missed the point with your response. Hope that was clearer.

  8. #18

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    Quote Originally Posted by Enderman:
    I buy more and more stuff from Alixpress, including clothing...so far so good and very cheap...very cheap...and you can negotiate with those guys for an even better deal.
    Also look at Online Shopping for Cool Gadgets, RC helicopter & Quadcopter, Mobile phone, Fashion at Banggood.com and China Wholesale Supplier, Nail Art Supplies, Buy LED Lights, Motorcycle, Makeup from China Wholesalers | Buyalleasy

    Prices are cheap as well how ever the shipping to HK can take some time but still for the prices it doesnt bother me as I'm in no hurry to get the products, can pay higher shipping fees for faster shipment.

  9. #19

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    I think we're talking about 2 different types of sellers here. Especially if we're talking about 3C products. Banggood.com, DX.com, Light in the Box, these are sites that though based in China, sell to Westerners. Quite often they block IP addresses even originating from Hong Kong and China. If I recall correctly it was mostly to avoid fraud. Yeah I know it sounds ridiculous since fraud can come from anywhere right? In fact, they block from a lot of countries. There's a list floating around somewhere about countries that these wholesalers don't sell to. In general, the list contains the same countries. Another reason I think they don't sell to locals or HK is because we can just cross the border and buy the products without the markup in Dongmen or Huaqiangbei in Shenzhen. So HK and local people were never included in their business plan. Only US and UK and DE and FR and ES and IT and of course CA foreigners who are willing to pay several times cost for these products are their core market. Finally there's the logistics issue. Take epackets for example. Great deal for sending products from China to USA, but is limited to China to USA, UK, and a few other countries. China sellers shipping to HK are forced to use SF express and other local shippers. Technically possible, but the transport companies are getting stricter and stricter about what they will carry. Of course this is the big sellers. The other type are the small C2C customers with Taobao stores. Up until now I wasn't aware of why they don't ship to HK or on the whole are reluctant to, thanks for imparanoic for the insight. My experience has been that they're willing to make exceptions. If you PM them. The question changes to how to pay. Many don't want to deal with PayPal because PP favors buyers. So it helps to have an Alipay account. Alternatively go to a Sheung Wan money remitter to deposit RMB right into a sellers China bank account. Hmmm...not sure if I answered the question or have been rambling. It's Sunday, I haven't had lunch yet. Which explains the senseless rambling. Cheers