Posting international parcels -

[curraone]

I have just been told that I can send any international standard parcels in the red street box, without going to the PO - has anyone actually done this, please?

[papermoon.lady]

Yes: https://auspost.com.au/business/shipping/international-shipping/international-standard

Make sure there are no current COVID suspensions before sending to a country though.

[lezned-toycollector]

Do not, I repeat NOT place international parcels in the red box.

Yes, you can do it, and it even says as much on the eBay postage label. However, by doing so you won't have any proof of lodgement (either scan or receipt), and you risk not getting any tracking scans at all, because you'll be relying on other postal service companies to scan at their location.

If the tracking doesn't matter to you, and you have no issue with refunding the full purchase price plus postage, then by all means, save yourself a minute or two and bypass the AP scanner.

The time saved just isn't worth the monetary trade-off.

[curraone]

Grumble grumble - all this time I've been driving into town to go to the PO 😕

[curraone]

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@lezned-toycollector wrote:

Do not, I repeat NOT place international parcels in the red box.

Yes, you can do it, and it even says as much on the eBay postage label. However, by doing so you won't have any proof of lodgement (either scan or receipt), and you risk not getting any tracking scans at all, because you'll be relying on other postal service companies to scan at their location.

If the tracking doesn't matter to you, and you have no issue with refunding the full purchase price plus postage, then by all means, save yourself a minute or two and bypass the AP scanner.

The time saved just isn't worth the monetary trade-off.

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But surely it will be scanned at the mail centre?

[papermoon.lady]

Yes, it should be scanned at the next sorting centre, although... you never know.

The risk of course also exists for domestic parcels posted in a red street mailbox.

Personally, I have always received everything posted in a red street mailbox. The tracking just didn't update until the parcel got scanned at the next sorting centre, and on a couple of occasions it only got scanned the day it was on board for delivery, but I always got everything.

[love_of_cars]

Short answer: yes, it serves me very well.

About a year before before the pandemic hit I always went to the PO to lodge my parcels which would include a lot of international ones.  Then I got the idea of walking the dog to the red street box and putting them in there, and discovered that this was perfectly fine, and now I ride my bike there and do it too.  They got scanned in that afternoon when collected by the 12 pm time, but since the pandemic hit it's been the next day.  I've been doing it since, absolutely no problem except one period last Xmas where they would all turn up on my doorstep the next day but that was a sorting error which quickly got fixed.

Just make sure you get the weights right and ensure you sign and date them, and also put the customs copy in the plastic pocket thing if required for some countries.  These are things they check at the PO but will be now up to you.  I recommend you bring a pen with you and double-check as you put them into the box, in case you missed one.  It has caught me out a couple of times.

[lezned-toycollector]

Not necessarily. Especially at this time of year. It's a 50/50 chance at best.

The local AP manager tells everyone to make sure any item with tracking is lodged over the counter - and she's 100% on the money. As a former employee myself, I can attest that items are not always scanned at sorting or delivery centres. I have seen multiple times through my own eyes where a whole cage has been rushed through without even being opened - let alone scanned. I've even done it myself when told to do so by the supervisor.

So posting in a street box is perfectly fine until something goes wrong. What if somebody pockets your item after you post it, and before it gets to the next scanner? The employees are fully aware that you have no proof of postage, so it makes your parcel all the more attractive to certain people.

There is no way you can prove that your parcel even exists, so it's really in a danger bracket for a sender.

If you're prepared to take the risk, that's your choice... but there's no way I ever will. Lets just look at my last international sale, I can't afford to risk having to refund $175, just for the sake of saving the few minutes it takes up to lodge over the counter.

I'd prefer the protection afforded by tracking, which not only covers me for INR cases, but also supports any claim I may have for a missing parcel.

[digital*ghost]

I think whether or not it's worth the risk will depend on your average order value, and whether you can successfully deflect any issues that can arise between posting and having the package get its first scan. For example, say you mark the order as shipped, upload the tracking number, but a week or more goes by with no updates and the buyer starts asking questions. Or 2 weeks go by and eBay starts hitting you with late postage defects because the first scan was outside of your handling time - you can't go "below standard" due to late shipments, but you can lose TRS, and you are afforded extra seller protections for being TRS, so at the moment I think it's relatively important to maintain.

I always lodge mine over the counter so that I have proof of post pretty much for as long as the lodgement receipt lasts, which is handy for chargebacks initiated through PayPal, since I receive payments through PayPal on my website; not too sure whether eBay just relies on their onsite records for chargebacks initiated 6+ months after the purchase, though I assume so. But, the main point is sometimes they miss scanning one and while I would think it's a bit different for international parcels, with domestic, often they are not scanned again until the day of delivery, the ones they miss always - pretty much without fail - are the highest value packages I've lodged that day (such is my luck, LMAO), so it always causes a lot of stress until they pop up in the system. If it was just the occasional $10 order, I'd still be annoyed but not checking up on it every day 🤣