I've been looking at several items from China on ebay, but the shipping charges are wild. is there a way to have something sent to a reliable address in China for later pickup? (I will be in Bejing in October) or a way to have someona else bring the item back to the states?

Just wondering. seems crazy to buy something for under $20 and pay over $100 to have it shipped.

D

On ebay, sellers can set whatever shipping rate they want. As a result, many will set very low prices to get your attention (and move their items up the list), but you still end up paying the same (or more).

This merchant you mention is doing just that. They will not sell it to you for $20 for a local pickup. You need to look at it as $120, shipping to US included. If you want to ship to China, you need to negotiate with them.

Shipping from China to US can be very expensive. I had a rush order for a couple sample labels that weighed no more than 2 oz and the DHL shipping was
$72. EMS is a lot less but takes 7 days or more. Chinese shippers get a subtantially lower rate to ship DHl, FED EX, UPS than US shippers billing a shipment out of China to their account unless US shippers do a lot of volume and have a very high discount level.

The going rate for bulk air freight is about $2.50/lb. So if you had a maximum baggage allowance of 3 bags at 30KG per bag, thats several hundred dollars worth of freight. The freight allowance value could actually equal the price of a discounted airline ticket. But then you have to deal with US customs if its considered non personal merchandise.

You could just ask the vendors to hold the items and ship them to your hotel when you are in China. That's the easiest and cheapest.