Global Trade
Last month, I finally managed to get my new Palm E2 to synch properly at work, and I wanted to get an extra HotSync cable so I wouldn’t have to keep carrying mine back and forth between home and office. It ticked me off that Palm charges $24.99 for a basic cable, so I googled to see if I could find one for cheaper. I soon found a company called Vavolo, which offers one for just $5.95, plus another $5.90 for shipping. And theirs uses the USB port to charge the handheld, instead of requiring a separate cable and outlet.
It wasn’t until I went to check out that I realized that, even though the website is entirely in English, Vavolo is located is Hong Kong, and that the cable would be shipped to me directly from there. I hesitated a minute, but decided to go ahead, since I wasn’t in a rush to get the cable. I had found an online coupon worth $3, so the most I’d be out is $9, and I was curious to see what I’d get.
The package came today complete with interesting Hong Kong stamps. The stamps totalled 17 HKdollars, or just over $US 2. And the package claims that the cable was made in Japan, not Hong Kong or China. I’m boggled that this business model is profitable.
