Justin, If Google is not making money out of this, then your distribution partner must be making unreasonable profits out of all the poor developers. At the RRP US$399 price, there is already substantial margin and overcharging for the shipping is NOT acceptable. The current shipping tax fee, ex tax too high, for example, Australia have free entry of up to AU$1000 which means the shipping to Australia is NOT taxed, yet someone reported the shipping fee to cost ~US$160. Last time I check, the cost to post about 1kg worth of item from US to Australia via USPS's courier service only cost like <$50, so there is at least $100 excess profit here..
Too bad our device isn't ready yet, otherwise, it will definitely be sold for much less incl shipping. Cheers Eric Portable Electronics Ltd www.hdmp4.com On Dec 12, 5:30 am, "Justin (Google Employee)" <[email protected]> wrote: > Peekay, > > Thanks for the feedback, you can be sure that we're learning from our > experience with this developer device program. Google isn't making any > money from the Android Dev Phone 1, since we are not selling them. We > are working with our distribution partner to make the process better. > > Cheers, > Justin > Android Team @ Google > > On Dec 10, 11:23 am, Peekay <[email protected]> wrote: > > > Thanks Justin for the response. I did place an order right after > > starting this thread, despite the cost. Just some suggestions since > > clarification / changes are apparently on the way: > > > 1. Please do itemize the costs. $264 shipping is seriously out-of- > > whack for a $399 phone, even accounting for actual shipping costs, > > brokerage fees, and import taxes. The import taxes should only be > > around $55. Brokerage fees are usually already included with UPS's > > Express or Expedited levels. So that means Canadians are paying about > > $200+ in "shipping and handling" which seems really steep to charge > > indy developers. > > > 2. If we're going to pay that much for shipping, be transparent about > > the shipping method. When I ordered, only *after* I paid that a > > message appeared stating that shipping could take up to three days. I > > felt like a total chump for paying $200+ for three day shipping on a > > phone (when our US cousins get free shipping apparently.) Really, I > > felt like I've been had. > > > 3. Again if we're going to be charged so much for shipping, please at > > least give us a tracking number. I got a confirmation email with an > > "order number" but no obvious way to see the status of that order > > anywhere. I ordered a couple of days ago, and I have no idea if the > > phone has even shipped yet!! > > > 4. As you know there's a lot of negative press already on this > > shipping issue, on Engadget, CNET, PC World, etc. I know the last > > thing Google wants is being seen as nickel-and-diming indy developers, > > but that's the perception out there right now. $264 buys a lot of > > Ramen. :-) So please really consider cheaper shipping options in the > > future. (It's too late for me, but I'm sure my fellow international > > coders would appreciate it.) > > > I'm a believer in Android and that's why I placed my order right away > > even with the outrageous shipping cost. I know Google will take care > > of us developers, despite these initial issues. --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Android Discuss" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/android-discuss?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
