Its been reported Hong Kong postal services are no longer accepting parcels destined for the US. Letters are fine, but no parcels. Freight forwarders are losing their shipping routes at a frightening rate. This is going to put the prices up drastically Ive been told but to me in the UK, I am already being offered better prices presumably to clear stock. Scary times folk!
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This is truly frustrating on so many levels. The American people are being priced OUT of the marketplace. We as American shopper’s ARE the LOSERS in the tariff GAME😩
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Wow! This week so many old suppliers in China have been sending emails on stock they cannot sell - it’s not panic, but it seems every supplier (and that includes one offs, where I didn’t like the product and did not buy more) are scouring their old non-US emails. I’ve been offfered all sorts of products - both the equipment and accessories like batteries, cables, earpieces etc. I’ve even added a few products outside of my normal ones because the prices were good and I have even bought a few things for myself. It’s not just radios - I dabble a bit in musical instruments, and I’ve ordered a pile of things there I think I can sell . I presume, these were orginally intended for the US market.
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Hopefully, the manufacturers in China will have
time to reflect on how they might improve their
products and designs, making their products
actually useful, or more useful in the process.
I would love to see Radioddity and Retevis figure
out how to add the capability for any and all channels
on their GMRS radios to transmit (repeat OR simplex)
on GMRS, not just a few channels on repeat or
whatever as they now do. I wish Radioddity and
(some) Baofengs (like UV5G Plus) would figure
out and fix whatever it is on some of their ht’s that
causes a weird “picket fencing” effect on receive
when traveling in an automobile. It is not normal
picket fencing but a bit more rapid. I have noticed
it within three blocks of a viable repeater and at
distances of several miles. My guess is they have
something weird with their AGC in these radios.
The problem is not there when walking or sitting
still. Finally, I wish that Wouxun would fix their issue
across many models of KG-series GMRS radios
with their CTCSS/CTCSS decoders. It is intermittent, but
I have experienced it with their KG905G, KG935G,
KG1000G, KG935G Plus, KGS88G, and KG1000G
Plus. While many claim they never had this problem,
it IS a real thing and I have experienced it with every
Wouxun radio I own in the above list, sometimes
with multiple specimens of the same model. I have
observed this problem on several friends’ radios,
also. Having bought well over $2,000 worth of Wouxuns
and accessories in the last few years, I know what
I am talking about. There is something in the
algorithmn in the aforementioned Wouxun models
(and maybe more) that causes the CTCSS/DCS
decoder to not open for other Wouxun radios or
other brands, on occasion. I like the Wouxun design
and performance, but until this bug is addressed,
acknowledged, and rectified, I am disinclined to
spend any more of my hard-earned money on their
radios. The Baofeng UV5R (and UV5G) is the flagship
of Cheap Chinese Junk radios. Even so, I have
never experienced this problem with those models
of Baofeng. Maybe Wouxun can collaborate with
Baofeng, and get a CTCSS/DCS decoder that does
not fail to open intermittently at times. I would
gladly pay another $20-35 per unit to not have
this annoying problem. Oh, and how about Wouxun
incorporate frequency stability and testing before
each radio leaves the factory? Yeah, it would be
worth a few extra bucks to me to ensure my radio
is on-frequency.
Maybe the CCJ manufacturers will use this lull
in sales to improve their design and manufacturing
processes. If not, I will not miss them if they fall
to ruin. Nature abhors a vacuum. Maybe the former
BIG THREE (YAE-KEN-COM) will fill it with better
and more worthwhile products. If so, I hope all,
but especially Yaesu, figure out the value of high
capacity batteries (2,000 mAh or hopefully better)
to people who might need serious communications.
I REALLY hope I’m wrong but as the tariffs slowly isolate U.S. from the rest of the world, these manufacturers must focus their efforts on countries not struggling with these tariff headaches. The obvious increases in pricing will have a significant impact on the American buyer. Even with the United States as a MAJOR customer for Asian companies in the past, they must now focus on this new monetary reality and it’s not a pretty one.
Asian companies will cater to the EU, the UK, and Australia for sales while the USA becomes more and more isolated by these tariff barriers.
As an American citizen, I never thought I’d live to see such a regrettable situation.
Grigori, you bring up many good suggestions for improvements, however I really think these Asian manufacturers, will put ANY requests or suggestions for technical improvements from the United States “on the back burner”.
We are no longer relevant anymore!
Tom WRQE346
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My whatsapp has gone a bit mad in the middle of the night - I use this as my primary chat tool with the suppliers and got one at 3am here. A supplier apologising for the official Alibaba notifications sent in her name from the company - inundating me with with special offers and deals on products I simply don’t sell. She assured me she knew they were not my type of products but the management are putting huge pressure on the staff to shift US products to different territories. Really nice GMRS and FRS radios - solid, IP rated and actually nice looking radios for $9 each! Useless to me of course in the UK, but clearly they are starting to panic. This is no good for any country really. If there really are ‘naughty’ chips in our everyday products, at what point do they get remotely switched on? I’ve always thought this probably just a fairy story, but with the world’s economy based on phones and computers? Who knows?
I think you’re right. Other countries are already making plans to sell their wares elsewhere. There are already many US focused products that will fade away if the tariff yo yo make it more difficult to sell to the US.
Things like making everything in US measurements and voltages. They’ll focus on EU type specs and drop our “special needs”.
combeske, I hope you’re as wrong as I hope I am, HOWEVER the harsh reality is that these manufacturers can no longer rely on American consumers to keep them in business. I’ve bought some extremely high quality electronics and electrical items from Temu lately at unbelievable prices. I’ll miss that shopping experience.
As Americans, we’ve enjoyed some really nice deals.
Best wishes,
Tom WRQE346
Just revisiting this one - in a year quite a bit has changed. UPS delivery, from China to the UK has nearly doubled in price. Currency conversion bank charges have gone up, but worst of all any items that need to go back to the factory for any reason is just silly money now. A faulty radio can cost me over 70USD to go to china - and worse, the imports into china cost the original supplier serious amounts to receive as they are, despite being faulty, considered imports by their government. In some cases, I get offered a discount on the next order, and don’t return the items.
Most shipments from China is cargo containers.
The items they talking is AliExspress.
Basically a way for big retailers cut small shipments from China.
There two ways large retailers get there products.
Large upto 60,000 or on pellets inside a container (this cost more)
There are some smaller retailers in America that uses the pellets size remember it takes 6 weeks to get a palette
David, with great respect, that is just not correct. Containerised shipping is very normal but simply not the way small to medium size businesses operate. The price of a 20ft, let alone 40ft cube or high top has doubled in price. They also operate port to port, so once they land, getting that container is ridiculously expensive too. My 20-30 radio sized shipments would take up to 10 weeks to come via container, and I’d have to use a freight forwarder to manage the required paperwork. I have done containers for large heavy items because there is no alternative, but air freight is the main method for shipping electronics. I could get the factory to ship to a freight forwarder, who would put my consignment on hold until there is a space in a part full container. That is a pain once landed because if the shipment has to be warehoused this end, I pay those charges. If my pallet is at the wrong end of the container, it could be weeks before the thing is unloaded and I pay for that time.
Air freight changes rules frequently - so UPS tinker with the weight x L x H x D formula. The same order might be in the cheap space one month, but next month be too large. I don’t like picking you up on your normal posts, but it is clear you have never imported a large consignment, yet give advice which is just wrong. Sorry, but you make a difficult process sound so simple.
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Thd ones that get hurt is the small retailers and the guy off street. I have received products from China in mail. I have used containers and use the command carrier type over sea shipping too (pellet size). But if small retailer a pellet is a lot radios.
Dave