Calculating Australia postage for listings incorrectly
Summary: The discussion focuses on issues related to incorrectly calculating postage for listings in Australia. Various participants, including thriftandtweed and sugar249, engage in the conversation, sharing experiences and concerns about the discrepancies in postage calculations. Some other participants like siddieswans and davewil1964 also join in, discussing potential solutions and possible reasons for these inaccuracies. The conversation is primarily centered around understanding and resolving the calculation errors to ensure accuracy in postage fees. Several responses reflect a communal effort to troubleshoot and address the problem collaboratively.
I am a new reseller of vintage items on Ebay and am having a lot of difficulty working out what to charge my buyers for postage even in Australia. Most of the time I take a parcel to the PO and end up paying more postage than I calculate and lose money. My items are variable from very small to medium sized and nearly all need to be packed in boxes for protection. One Aus Post employee said anything under 1kg, it is based on weight. Another said anything 1kg and above will be cubed. I work out the cubed cost and it is way more expensive for the customer so I think this would definitely turn them off buying from me. Also I have had conflicting advice do I put calculated postage in my listings or flat rate? How do I know what to charge the customer in the listing if it is calculated. I would really appreciate some advice especially from others who post vintage in Australia as I am thinking seriously about not selling any more. Thank you
p9games
·2 years agoThere are no shortcuts. You'll need evaluate postage options and work out the shipping methods that find the right balance between cost, speed and safety. trial and error. Practice makes perfect
curraone
·2 years agoFirst of all I think your PO has been negligent in not advising you of your choices. Flat rate packaging is the best way to go - your articles would be under 5kg I assume, and so are ideal for the flat rate packaging - see theses prices (and don't forget you need to buy an Aust Post box which will cost extra). Just invest in buying a box in each size to start with so you will get to know whether your items will fit.
https://auspost.com.au/shop/sending/flat-rate-packaging
Parcel Post postage only
up to 5kg
$10.95
Small
$14.95
Medium
$18.95
large
$22.85
Extra large
And even if you do decide to stick with calculated postage, don't stress about how much to list it, you put in your own dimensions and weight and the ebay thingy will work it out for your buyer.
sugar249
·2 years agoYes, but only maybe, flat rate packaging can work if you have standard items, but the sizing of the boxes is very restrictive, and in reality you can only put 5Kg in if it is gold bar, and formed into the shape of the box ( a little OTT, but you know what I mean). Your average item that would fit into those boxes would never come to 5Kg, I know the person who came up with the excellent marketing spin on that one.
As an example you could have a huge item that wont fit in a small box, but would easily fit the 500g limit for 10.95, and on top of that you can buy far cheaper packaging than the AP boxes to better suit your needs.
siddieswans
·2 years agoLike you I sell vintage collectables; different shapes, sizes and weights. Make yourself familiar with Australia Post’s range of flat rate boxes – if it fits, then the weight doesn’t matter. You have to pay for the boxes of course plus the postage, but as Sugar says if you sell enough to warrant signing up to AP My Post, then the cost of the boxes AND the postage will help you earn discounts. I just use Flat Rate postage for Australia and add enough to help off-set eBay’s % fee on postage, and my packaging, whether that’s AP’s box or my box plus bubble wrap/nuggets.
Using your own packaging, for anything under 1 kg Australia wide the current Flat Rate is 14.95 (regardless of size, so long as it fits within AP’s parcel size limits). For this I would charge $17 myself. For weights OVER 1 Kg you are better off using AP flat rate boxes as then you can use Flat Rate Australia wide and forget about the hassle of calculating postage. I have found over the years that if you are selling unique items people don’t care so much about the postage cost because they don’t have a comparison.
Please don't give up selling just because you are concerned about working out postage costs. But eBay is a tough gig, and there are heaps of people out there like you and me, selling vintage items. Good luck.
PS. Over the years I have been on eBay I have just about given up selling fragile breakable HEAVY items like ceramics and glassware, UNLESS they are very special. Try finding vintage items that weigh less than 500g that can go in a padded bag or items that can go in an AP flat rate satchel - so much easier all around!
siddieswans
·2 years agoWhoops - late at night! Also too late to edit. "for anything under 1 kg Australia wide the current Flat Rate is 14.95" - I should of course have said anything OVER 500g but UNDER 1 Kg. Under 500g is $10.95 of course - flat rate $13 on my site.
sugar249
·2 years agoOP, and up to 40% off these prices if you use mypost and get your sales up, it doesnt take much to get a decent discount, Anyone selling any volume should be using mypost.
I still price mine based on full price, and have a little bonus in the bank account.
brickworksmarket
·2 years agoTo get 40% off on just local parcels you will need to spend $20 000 per year with Aust Post. I am band 4 and to get to Band 5 I would need to sell double what I sell now to reach that level. I would say that it would take a lot of work to achieve that.
But I would agree that if you are averaging 20% discount that is $4000 in savings on Band 5 but doubt it is a bonus as your competitors will have the same discount and you will need it to compete these days.
sugar249
·2 years agoOh I realise that, but I said up to 40%, even at the lowest band it's 10% for zone 1. Any dollars are better in OP's pocket than Australia Posts pocket. OP may have big plans, aim high, even the smallest margin is better.
PS. don't make assumptions about my competitors,
siddieswans
·2 years agoMy discount band goes up and down all the time. Some weeks I might sell International parcels (expensive postage labels); or padded bag parcels under 500g (cheaper postage labels); or pre-paid satchels (no postage label but I have bought the satchels on my account). Depends largely what I have for auction each week. Some weeks I might sell mostly tracked letters – sadly these envelopes seem to be the only product that does not add to your discount bands. But it is always a nice bonus to see what I have saved on each postage label – as I said before, selling unique items usually means there is no direct comparison, so competing with other sellers on price is not such an issue for me.
thriftandtweed
OP2 years agoThanks for your reply. I definitely have sold items between 500-1kg and over 1 kg packaged. Like I mentioned I weighed an item at the $14.95 rate which I charged the buyer and AP charged me 19.95. This has happened a couple of times.
sugar249
·2 years agoyou need to check your tape measure and scales by the sounds of it
thriftandtweed
OP2 years agoThanks for your reply. Do you box and weigh your items before listing to work out what to charge the buyer?
padi*0409
·2 years agoMarking your own question as "the solution".
Words fail me.............................
siddieswans
·2 years agoAs you have directed your question to me I will answer but I think curraone has answered you perfectly well. I keep a made-up sample of the AP Flat Rate boxes that I use - small, medium, extra large - I can see as I am listing whether the item (allowing for space for proper packaging) will fit. To the flat rate postage I add the cost of the AP box, enough to cover packaging materials if necessary (as weight does not matter I use newspaper plus re-cycled bubble wrap /nuggets from my own on-line purchases), and enough to cover eBay postage fees. I would decide on an added cost that would cover you for the majority of parcels you send rather than try to work out an additional cost every time. For me this is $3; when I am using my own packaging I may make a bit extra, when I am using AP's packaging I may lose a bit.
Certainly there are cheaper options for packaging than Australia Post - Bunnings for boxes (😁), excellent eBay merchants for any type of specific satchel, padded bag, stiff envelope you may need. But your original question was about reasonably-sized, reasonably weighty items that needed to be boxed; and until you gain more experience AP Flat Rate boxes would be a good start IMO. I have sent many, MANY items weighing up to 1 or 2 kilos in a small Flat Rate box, which equates to a good saving on postage. And if you do decide you are going to sell on a regular basis, sign up first thing for an AP Business account, so any Flat Rate boxes you may buy will add towards your postage discount savings. Good Luck.
cridco
·2 years agoIt takes a while to get a feel for the cost of postage. I have a set of scales handy and always weigh items as I am putting them up for sale. Learning whether your parcels will be charged by weight or size will come with experience, but it is probably the first most important understanding you require. I mostly use satchels, but not always because sometimes it is cheaper to use your own wrapping. This knowledge of whether to use satchels or wrap your own comes with experience. I do find satchels easier. I have become expert at squeezing the last skerrick of space out of a satchel. I would suggest you have satchels on hand (maybe one of each size - small, medium, large) and as you list, consider what protection your items need. Breakables need to be wrapped with protection to keep them off the side of the boxes so the packaging will be larger than the item. With breakables that need to be well wrapped and boxed (even to go in a satchel), I would allow for 250 grams or more of packaging. Once again, experience will make it easier to calculate. It is worthwhile looking at other seller's postage costs too.
davewil1964
·2 years agoOther sellers may or may not factor total postage costs into their listings.
The salient point when considering what to list for is what your competitors are charging and what price point you want to list at.
I aim to be the third lowest Australian seller of my items. The bottom feeders are always cheaper, yet I have steady sales.
sugar249
·2 years agoUse the calculator on the Australia Post website, put in the packaged weight , the dimensions of the box, and it will tell you how much to charge. You dont have to worry if it's cubed or by weight, it does the magic. Dont forget to add a bit extra to cover the cost of the packaging and Ebay fee's.
If you start selling a heap, join up for mypost and you will get discounts,
thriftandtweed
OP2 years agoThanks for your reply. I don't know the packaged weight when I am doing the listing. Should I be putting items in their boxes with bubblewrap etc before listing so I can calculate the postage cost by weighing and measuring before listing?
sugar249
·2 years agoI don't package the items, but I know the weight of the item, the weight of the boxes, and a guestimate on bubble wrap, etc. And guess what you know how much it will weigh or measure. Takes a matter of seconds
davewil1964
·2 years agoAs sugar said, it doesn't take much effort. Even less if you're using AP flat rates.