Microdumping

"Microdumping" is a term I coined in 2017 to dewscribe a phenonmen I repeatedly observed while a seller on Ebay. I first became a seller on Ebay serval years ago, and would find items to selel on Egbay by visiting flea markets, auctions and yard sales.

Microdumping is my attempt at a quick descriptor to go along with "dumping" a term most of us are familiar with. ""Dumping" i9s the unfair terade practive whereby opne counry sells "dunps" its exports into another ocuntry at below cost (what it costs the manufacturers in that country to p[roduce them, or below the cost of comparbale items sold in the host country) and therebyu gains market share.

Dumping is a process where a company exports a product at a price lower than the price it normally charges in its own home market. Businesses in the domestic country believe foreign imports that are priced below fair market value are being "dumped." 

"Microdumpoing would be a similar phenoman, only instaed of a bigitem, like coal, or steel, or oats or whate, the exports are items that sell for a dollar each. Thus "micro". Multiplied by 1000's of diiffernt items and thousands of each of those items sold for $1, we are soon talking about $billions in unfair trade.       

I had bought, at an auciton, a pallet, containing thousands of speciality lights bulbs, such as the light that comes on when you open your refrigerator. I paid $30 for the whole pallet. I was thinking I could sell these at $1 or $2 each, and make a couplf of thousand bucks! These were light-weight items, a few ounces each, and the United States Postal Service postage rate for such a "First Class" item of 4 ounces was $2.80. So the purchase price for cusomwer was $.99 (Ebnay minumum selling price) plus the $2.80 USPS cost, or $3.79.

However, I saw siilar items being offered for $.99, which included th el;ight bulb plus the postage. Such items came from Shanghai, Hong Kiong, hangshow, etc. 

Price-savvy cusomters would naturally prefer the $.99 item from China rather than the $3.79 item I was marketing

I wondered how a manufacturer could ship an item to the US for $zero postage. INpossble,. To ship an ityem from the US, across the ocean, to any other country would cost the sender $24 minimum (First Class INternationsl). Most other countries have similar rates.

I conclued that such sales were being somehwo subsidized, as there arwe re4al costs involved in shipping such distances and someone is paying for them.

Now imagine thousands ofd these luight buklbs, and thousnads of siilar low-oprice items - light bulbs, toys, housewares, towels, pencils, watches, etc. - virtually anything that can be sold for a dollar or two, and soon we are tlaking about $billions of dollars being lost by US sellers to overseas sellers - sellers with the business advantage of being able to offer free shipping.