topic Re: Postage times.... in Selling

Postage times....

saarzi — Thu, 07 Jan 2016 12:09:01 GMT

Anyone had any items delivered yet?

I sent several items on Monday (NOT priority) and Ive had emails from buyers to say some were already delivered today.

That includes from me (rural NSW) to rural VIC!

So much for two speed deliveries? unless they are just getting used to it.

Re: Postage times....

collect247 — Thu, 07 Jan 2016 12:20:26 GMT

Had items delivered in 2 days melb to nsw and still haven't received items since the 20th dec that are only 2 hours away so it's like a yoyo.

Re: Postage times....

247newdeals — Thu, 07 Jan 2016 13:29:28 GMT

I had one delivered yesterday 6th

Re: Postage times....

digital*ghost — Thu, 07 Jan 2016 15:13:40 GMT

I sent a priority letter on Monday to metro WA (from SA), and the buyer received it Wednesday, if that means anything...

I was a little surprised, as most letters I send to WA take twice that, and this one was registered which I often find adds a day or two to transit time for some reason, but to be honest a lot of what other people have been saying about it has got me wondering if I'm a bit of a chump for paying the priority rate.

Re: Postage times....

joethenuts — Thu, 07 Jan 2016 15:27:00 GMT

hi dig i would prob wait until everybody and offices and factories and schools are back , as there prob isnt a lot of mail to deliver.at the moment.

most factories dont come back until the 11th, i dont know about you but driving is a breeze at the moment.

then that what give you a better idea

Re: Postage times....

*tippy*toes* — Thu, 07 Jan 2016 23:08:34 GMT

I posted a large letter on Tuesday without a priority sticker to somewhere that normally takes 3-4 days. It appears the buyer leaves feedback for sellers so will be interesting to see when it arrives. He has left 3 negs for non arrivals "more than a year ago", so we'll see. I did wonder if I should have put a priority sticker on it, but the estimate said 12-19 Jan, which I thought was more than enough time for that location.

I've added a small postage cost to my large letter items, $1.40. I figured the buyer and I can share the postage cost (the one mentioned above still fell under the "free" postage). If those items stop selling I'll remove the cost again and add a few cents to the price.

Re: Postage times....

digital*ghost — Fri, 08 Jan 2016 10:31:26 GMT

It is a bit too early to know anything for sure, and I keep thinking back to all those times I posted separate packages to the same address on the same day, only to have them arrive up to a week apart sometimes.

I do wonder, if no one pays for priority, there would effectively be no such thing.

PS Joe, I don't drive, the only time I notice traffic is when I have to cross the road, and the only thing I can say about that is there are never any cars on the road until the second I decide to cross it, at any given time of the year.

Re: Postage times....

imastawka — Fri, 08 Jan 2016 10:35:23 GMT

So if no-one buys the priority stamps, will it be dead in the water?

Personally, I think it's already dead in the water before it's grown legs

Re: Postage times....

digital*ghost — Fri, 08 Jan 2016 10:54:09 GMT

@imastawka wrote:
So if no-one buys the priority stamps, will it be dead in the water?

Personally, I think it's already dead in the water before it's grown legs

It's likely only people who have external pressure re: delivery times that are even considering using priority, and even then it seems there's too much mistrust in AP's information / promises / propaganda 😄 to get many people paying the 50c. There would be a few people, business etc outside of eBay that have those concerns, but I'm guessing most people will just post their greeting cards, bills etc, a day or two earlier.

Re: Postage times....

dylan11235813 — Fri, 08 Jan 2016 11:04:01 GMT

I think they should have increased the price to $1.10 and not have it (assuming the base rate increase was justified)

Australia Post yearly report for the financial year is here for anyone interested: click me

Re: Postage times....

saarzi — Fri, 08 Jan 2016 11:39:01 GMT

I agree - people dont send letters they need delivered fast by regular mail. They send express, or use email. And who cares if a regular letter takes a day or two to be delivered.

The price increases might help them, but I think the two speed mail and priority labels were poorly thought out.

They might have worked 20 years ago.

Re: Postage times....

dylan11235813 — Fri, 08 Jan 2016 11:56:56 GMT

Do they have that much mail to justify 2 levels of service?

Maybe increase the price to $1.10 and not have it. There is also the fact that if I don't pay the $0.50, it "might" take longer!

Next it will be every second day deliveries. How high can the price go?

Austrlia Posts annual report is available on the website. I couldn't seem to find how much each executive was payed (or bonuses) but I think they got about $1 mill each on average for 20 exective directors.

Australia Post seems to spend a lot on capital.

Re: Postage times....

247newdeals — Fri, 08 Jan 2016 13:13:04 GMT

I usually find a move made by a large company to be done by mistake.Personally I think having a $0.50 priority mail service is doomed to fail but I would be interested to know if Aus post would be able to incorporate the fee once it fails so allowing them to do a second large postal increase within a year I would not be shocked to see the base fee at $1.50 within the next 12 months

Re: Postage times....

dylan11235813 — Fri, 08 Jan 2016 23:21:30 GMT

If they did that the price for a 500g letter would exceed the price of a 500g parcel.....without the priority BS. I think that is the aim though.

6 billion in sales with 200 mil profit (in 13-14 year) while paying 20 mil to execs and spending 400 mil to upgrade (like every year) seems excessive. What is all this money being spent on....surely not just a few scanners and the website. I would rather see them buy every posty a new scooter, so I can watch them fall off of a nice scooter and then get chased by dogs while holding a big stick.

They not only seem to be wasting money but they then complain that other companies are entering the market and taking away market share, what a joke they are.

Re: Postage times....

dylan11235813 — Fri, 08 Jan 2016 23:28:18 GMT

I wanted to add as well that other countries that have the two levels of service have way more mail.

Re: Postage times....

saarzi — Sat, 09 Jan 2016 00:31:50 GMT

Yeah, I live between the UK and Australia (most time spent in Australia), and the UK just isnt like Australia.

Auspost kept referring to the UK 2 speed way of doing things, but in the UK snail mail is still normal. People send tonnes of it, companies still use it for everything.

Its not like that here, compared to the UK, we're a lot more 'digital'. Banks, bills, most of them here offer email, and really push email. Whereas in the UK, it might be an option for some things, but its still not a regular thing, and most people dont use it.

In Australia Im lucky to get one letter a fortnight. In the UK, I receive letters almost every day.

I think post offices etc here will get sick of sorting the priority mail from the rest - I dont see how theres going to be enough to validate wasting that time, hence money, on it.

Interesting too that while Auspost is doing this, they are also offering their new digital mail box.. where you can have bill etc sent electronically (I dont know why youd have them sent their website (then they email you to tell you its there) instead of directly to your own email, seems like doubling up for nothing, but anyway).

Re: Postage times....

dylan11235813 — Sat, 09 Jan 2016 01:26:03 GMT

I don't get much mail. Just bills that I can download anyway, and the option of not receiving them in the mail. My postie also delivers packages....

Re: Postage times....

debonnairefashions — Sat, 09 Jan 2016 04:36:23 GMT

Hi, I send some items by letters and I have noticed my sales has increased this week due to postage times. I decreased my postage rate for satchels and am getting more sales this week.

Would I use priority, no. I sell clothing and had noticed sellers in the past posting as a letter. My buyers have purchased due to the fact the postage was cheap, fast and has tracking.

Yes, I took advantage of what happened earlier in the week with the postage times and prices. It can be harder on items that are priced cheaper than mine, that is not clothing to reduce costs to get the buyer.

Good of luck to all.

Re: Postage times....

dotm2004 — Sat, 09 Jan 2016 05:02:27 GMT

That makes me feel much better .... I had a message yesterday which read ..... "Did you really send it, cos it's not here yet - please check if you really sent it". That was a letter post mailed on 20th from Hobart to NSW. I explained that I don't send the postage notification until AFTER it has been posted and haven't heard back.

On the other hand, I posted a 5kg satchel to Victoria on Friday18th ... checked the tracking on the following Wed ....BUT it had already been delivered on the Monday 21st !!

The same as your experience crow, I can't work out how they operate.

Re: Postage times....

clarry100 — Sat, 09 Jan 2016 05:50:29 GMT

So far we are finding that the buyers we ask are receiving their large letter items in about the same times as we have been used to prior to now but without any priority stickers on them. In fact we have been using up our old 70-cent stamps stock last week too. But this next week we will be into the new $1 stamps. But no underpaid postage pings. So I assume there is a grace period.

I asked my local PO about these priority stickers last week and they basically just rolled their eyes back with a disgusted look and shook their heads, and they are a corporate office. They pretty much said don't bother with them.

So we are just going to keep using regular mail and see what happens. We have not even bought any priority stickers yet. So far no observable change in delivery times.