topic Re: The time involved using Australia Post eparcel contract for international destinations. in Selling

The time involved using Australia Post eparcel contract for international destinations.

padraicpaul91 — Tue, 30 Apr 2019 23:41:02 GMT

International purchases make up about half of my ebay turnover, and so I have been on an international contract for some years.

The discount given varies according to destination, but in general I can offer the published retail postal rate to customers, and still cover packaging costs, ebay and paypal fees on the postage.

As of this month I am required to use eparcel if I am to send parcels internationally at contract rates.Instead of writing the forms and lodging this at the post office,the information is now uploaded directly to AustPost, printed and enclosed in those sticky clear envelopes.

The issue I have is the amount of time this takes.Where the old manual forms took seconds to write, entering the info now takes much,much longer. Even allowing for the time saved lodging at the post office, the total time remains considerably longer. I know I will be quicker over time but all the same....

Has anyone found any short cuts to the process?

If not, I may introduce a small P&H charge to compensate a little.

Re: The time involved using Australia Post eparcel contract for international destinations.

curraone — Tue, 30 Apr 2019 23:56:27 GMT

i'm sorry I can't help - don't have an eparcel contract

I do the occasional aust post international label and think it's a blessing - mainly because I can do them when I want, like 2 am in the morning

But the reason I am replying is I am interested in whether you have any trouble getting the sticky envelopes? Aust Post are supposed to supply them for free but my PO has not had any for over a year.

Re: The time involved using Australia Post eparcel contract for international destinations.

eol-products — Wed, 01 May 2019 00:01:27 GMT

If your discount is not better than 15% have you considered mypost bussiness which I find does not require a lot of time.

Re: The time involved using Australia Post eparcel contract for international destinations.

padraicpaul91 — Wed, 01 May 2019 00:39:03 GMT

Thanks.

It is better than 15%, probably averageing about 20%. eg UK is about $22 up to 500gr.

If I cannot get the time down, I will investigate the benefit of 'my business'.

However, I primarily send tubes containing prints, not satchels, which I thought was what my 'business' was about.

I used to consider the discount as being for volume.

Now I am viewing it as part compensation for doing work once done by PO employees.

Re: The time involved using Australia Post eparcel contract for international destinations.

padraicpaul91 — Wed, 01 May 2019 00:42:47 GMT

Re Sticky envelopes

I did have to try a couple of PO's as mine didn't have them either.

They can be ordered through your PO and are almost certainly available at your nearest postal hub or business office.

I have ordered through my account manager.

Re: The time involved using Australia Post eparcel contract for international destinations.

curraone — Wed, 01 May 2019 00:43:37 GMT

It is $21.20 for me to send 500g to the UK so where's the discount for you?

Re: The time involved using Australia Post eparcel contract for international destinations.

eol-products — Wed, 01 May 2019 01:43:28 GMT

If it includes tracking $22 is good for UK as I think it is $24 with maximum discount with mypost.

Re: The time involved using Australia Post eparcel contract for international destinations.

purplemon18 — Wed, 01 May 2019 03:35:17 GMT

I don't use eparcel either, but I have a guess about speeding it up. Auspost use an ebay api in mypost business to import order information automatically, this can save a lot of time, especially when processing multiple orders at once.

Once they are imported, it's merely a matter of checking the data to make sure there are no mistakes, and printing the labels.

If the above is just technobabble to you, then the simple answer is to see if there is an option in the settings to add your ebay username and password. If there is, then after entering that info, look for a button in the orders section to import.

Re: The time involved using Australia Post eparcel contract for international destinations.

padraicpaul91 — Wed, 01 May 2019 06:10:17 GMT

That $22 includes tracking.

Yours?

Re: The time involved using Australia Post eparcel contract for international destinations.

curraone — Wed, 01 May 2019 06:30:57 GMT

@padraicpaul91 wrote:
That $22 includes tracking.
Yours?

No, no tracking.

Re: The time involved using Australia Post eparcel contract for international destinations.

djavusydney — Wed, 01 May 2019 08:49:12 GMT

I found doing online is easier rather than writing. I use this software Ditto to help copy and paste multiple entries. Not sure the online form you use can connect to eBay to import the order so that the entries are done automatically?

Re: The time involved using Australia Post eparcel contract for international destinations.

padraicpaul91 — Thu, 02 May 2019 02:31:21 GMT

Thanks for the suggestion, but I don't think it will cut the time down by enough. It will still be a line by line cut and pastes,

The eparcel input site seems to require a specific API.

I have spoken to the eparcel support team who just can't answer this specific query.

Now waiting for a reponse from the AustPost API development team as to what I might do.

I have been going through a list of commercial APIs that may do the job, as AustPost staff do not know. No success thus far.

Is it wrong to think such an API would be up and ready for the many ebay sellers who have AustPost accounts and now being forced to use eparcels?

Just got off the phone, speaking to another seller who moves larger volumes through his website. If he cannot integrate with AustPost via an API, his business will be moving to private couriers who do integrate. Like me, his use of manual lodgement with AustPost is much quicker.

Re: The time involved using Australia Post eparcel contract for international destinations.

padraicpaul91 — Thu, 02 May 2019 03:36:54 GMT

Thanks for your suggestion but no.

The print a label stuff on ebay is a different deal made between the two.

It's good for some ebay sellers providing a small discount but nowhere close to the prices available to contract customers.

And it does not contribute to the minimum turnover required to maintain the contract.

If I cannot get my time down,however,it may be the best available option in future.

It is very much a time v money issue.

Re: The time involved using Australia Post eparcel contract for international destinations.

djavusydney — Thu, 02 May 2019 09:42:41 GMT

I see that you use eParcel now - I personally used eParcel for domestic parcels, and I download those transactions in Awaiting shipment - then I paste the eBay data to spreadsheet then somewhat converted (with formulas) to another cells then I import to eParcel - no API required.

I believe there is eParcel template for International - it should follow the same way as domestic - this way you do all orders at once.

Re: The time involved using Australia Post eparcel contract for international destinations.

padraicpaul91 — Thu, 02 May 2019 10:35:40 GMT

So basically you created your own API of sorts.

Well done.That's beyond me.

Re: The time involved using Australia Post eparcel contract for international destinations.

djavusydney — Thu, 02 May 2019 13:16:06 GMT

This is not API, it's just using eParcel template. It will take an hour of your time to setup in spreadsheet, linking cells and all, then in the long run you don't do entries.

Re: The time involved using Australia Post eparcel contract for international destinations.

padraicpaul91 — Thu, 02 May 2019 23:58:35 GMT

Thanks.Yes.

I'll track down someone who can help.

I have not dealt with a spreadsheet in half a life time.