sFIZmRtCETBSZ39djt(!~~60_7.JPG "planetopal"){kind=avatar}
@planetopal wrote:
Pack and send is similarly priced and offer online tracking number - but it comes at the cost of no signature required...Why?
I don't understand that, either. A domestic parcel will have tracking as standard (i.e. no extra cost), with a few exceptions, and it's only SOD that costs more ($2.95) . International delivery via standard air mail, you can only have one or the other, at an additional $7-odd on top of the parcel price. 
In my best Old El Paso-Girl impression - why can't we have both?
Unfortunately, most of my items go as international large letters, so I (and my buyers) get the "lovely" choice of paying $2.75 - $7.40, untrackable, or $21.10 - $28.45 (that's as much as more than 10x the cost for standard air mail!) and that's the cheapest for one of the two choices (tracking or SOD). It's disgraceful. 😞
At any rate, I did happen to send a registered parcel to the US today, so I'll check the number on the USPS site in a few days just to see if per chance it still gives me a result.
@digital*ghost wrote:
@planetopal wrote:
Pack and send is similarly priced and offer online tracking number - but it comes at the cost of no signature required...Why?
I don't understand that, either. A domestic parcel will have tracking as standard (i.e. no extra cost), with a few exceptions, and it's only SOD that costs more ($2.95) . International delivery via standard air mail, you can only have one or the other, at an additional $7-odd on top of the parcel price.
In my best Old El Paso-Girl impression - why can't we have both?
Unfortunately, most of my items go as international large letters, so I (and my buyers) get the "lovely" choice of paying $2.75 - $7.40, untrackable, or $21.10 - $28.45 (that's as much as more than 10x the cost for standard air mail!) and that's the cheapest for one of the two choices (tracking or SOD). It's disgraceful. 😞
At any rate, I did happen to send a registered parcel to the US today, so I'll check the number on the USPS site in a few days just to see if per chance it still gives me a result.
It IS disgraceful. If Australia Post are going to keep upping their prices (and they are) then they need to provide us with options/services that are standard in almost every other developed country in the world.
In most countries, it's a few extra dollars to send something with tracking/signature/insurance - as you point out, it can be as much as 10x more expensive to do that here.
How are we supposed to compete in the global marketplace when it costs us $45896745967945 to send a standard package overseas?
That, and eBay's ridiculous return policy, are the reasons I stopped posting overseas. My international buyers just didn't understand why it'd cost so much to have a standard service like tracking (and I found that the majority of international buyers wanted tracking . . . as do I when I purchase internationally). After many cancelled transactions, I stopped selling overseas. And yes, I did/do have all postage costs on my listings - but so many international buyers assumed that combined postage would involve a significant discount . . but with AP, it does not.
@everard6920 wrote:It IS disgraceful. If Australia Post are going to keep upping their prices (and they are) then they need to provide us with options/services that are standard in almost every other developed country in the world.
In most countries, it's a few extra dollars to send something with tracking/signature/insurance - as you point out, it can be as much as 10x more expensive to do that here.
How are we supposed to compete in the global marketplace when it costs us $45896745967945 to send a standard package overseas?
That, and eBay's ridiculous return policy, are the reasons I stopped posting overseas. My international buyers just didn't understand why it'd cost so much to have a standard service like tracking (and I found that the majority of international buyers wanted tracking . . . as do I when I purchase internationally). After many cancelled transactions, I stopped selling overseas. And yes, I did/do have all postage costs on my listings - but so many international buyers assumed that combined postage would involve a significant discount . . but with AP, it does not.
I'm thankfully fnding my buyers to be quite understanding / accepting that the majority of their packages won't be trackable, but my items are usually relatively low value, and I get a fair few buyers from Canada too, who are pretty much in the same boat we are in so far as costs for "extra" services.
But, I did have an enquiry last night about a higher value ($200) item, to the US. For an order of that value, I want tracking, SOD and extra cover - not only is extra cover outrageously more expensive than for domestic packages ($1.50 per $100 within Aus compared to $9.60 for the first $100 + $2.50 for each additional $100 to the US) but I can't get all three add-ons unless I pay a total of $68.15 for Express Courier International (Merchandise) - and this is on a small, under 500g package!
