Sales channels like Ebay's Global Shipping Program and Amazon

[asoltesz]

Seeing the news articles about the new Pinebook Pro, I definitely think that sales of Pine64 will be much higher than before.

It seems to me that Pine64 should definitely make the purchase and delivery process much less painful in order to handle the new sales levels.

For me, the biggest pain point is that I have to handle the customs process myself which is expensive and tiresome.

Both Ebay and Amazon provides proper solutions for this problem. You pay all import duties in advance at checkout and the product gets shipped to your doorstep. No customs hassle, no extra processing fees, you just get the product delivered.

I would definitely pay 10-15 bucks more for a Pinebook / Pinebook Pro if it came via the Ebay Global Shipping Program or Amazon. I loose this money as extra customs processing fee anyways. Also, in this product category, you will have to pay the import duties as well in most countries so there is no point in hoping that it slips through the customs office and one doesn't have to pay the duties at all.

I heard in a Youtube interview that Pine64 is planning changes in the sales mechanism.

Will the Pinebooks become available via Ebay or Amazon any time soon?

[tllim]

Seeing the news articles about the new Pinebook Pro, I definitely think that sales of Pine64 will be much higher than before.

It seems to me that Pine64 should definitely make the purchase and delivery process much less painful in order to handle the new sales levels.

For me, the biggest pain point is that I have to handle the customs process myself which is expensive and tiresome.

Both Ebay and Amazon provides proper solutions for this problem. You pay all import duties in advance at checkout and the product gets shipped to your doorstep. No customs hassle, no extra processing fees, you just get the product delivered.

I would definitely pay 10-15 bucks more for a Pinebook / Pinebook Pro if it came via the Ebay Global Shipping Program or Amazon. I loose this money as extra customs processing fee anyways. Also, in this product category, you will have to pay the import duties as well in most countries so there is no point in hoping that it slips through the customs office and one doesn't have to pay the duties at all.

I heard in a Youtube interview that Pine64 is planning changes in the sales mechanism.

Will the Pinebooks become available via Ebay or Amazon any time soon?

PINE64 shipping team currently exploring with Aliexpress. May not be available on eBay or Amazon any time soon.

[ost]

AliExpress would be great! A truly global option.

[asoltesz]

I am not sure if AliExpress is ideal for this, at least they don't seem to have anything like the Ebay Global Shipping program which means that one has to deal with customs themselves (which is my big pain point here).

On the other hand, AliExpress has a facility that some of the sellers use: regional stores. For example, if the seller provides an "EU Store" option and a European customer orders from that store, the customer won't have to deal with customs in their (EU) countries because the seller imports the product into one of the EU countries on their own and then ships within the EU directly to the postal address to the customer (no further customs processing within EU borders). Prices are always more expensive in the "EU Store" than in the "China Store" because of the EU customs fees and processing but that is fine since the customer willingly chooses this to avoid customs hassle.

I regularly buy small, cheap electronic components from AliExpress because they go through customs (for value <24 EUR there is no customs processing in the EU) but I only buy more expensive things if the seller provides an "EU Store" since otherwise it is usually easier to find a seller on Ebay with the Global Shipping Program or even Amazon US.

So, Aliexpress is a good solution only if they are willing use regional stores. Ebay GSP sounds easier to me (I don't know about their fees).