topic Re: International postage. Anybody using Standard for their sales? in Selling

International postage. Anybody using Standard for their sales?

padraicpaul91 — Tue, 29 Sep 2020 03:40:22 GMT

Hi.

I have been offering Express only for my international sales since April. This has been for the obvious reason of lengthy delivery times.

The side effect has been a sharp drop in the number of such sales, due to the cost.

Has anyone have a good idea of actual delivery times using Standard? I do not believe Oz Post estimates. My sales are primarily to The UK, France, US and Canada.

BTW. I am in Melbourne, which probably adds an additional delay.

Thanks

Re: International postage. Anybody using Standard for their sales?

love_of_cars — Tue, 29 Sep 2020 03:53:50 GMT

I am in Melbourne also.

UK, processed 6 Sep 2020, landed 27 Sep 2020, delivered 28 Sep 2020.

US, processed 6 Sep 2020, landed 21 Sep 2020, delivered 27 Sep 2020

CA, processed 2 Sep 2020, landed 15 Sep 2020, delivered 19 Sep 2020

FR, processed 28 Aug 2020, landed 14 Sep 2020, delivered 15 Sep 2020

I find Standard to be just fine. I've noticed that the cheaper Economy service has been back for a week or two but I far from being ready to give up the protection of tracking at least til the end of the year.

Re: International postage. Anybody using Standard for their sales?

lotsamagsnbags — Tue, 29 Sep 2020 05:18:56 GMT

reversing it, from the US to me in sydney twice has taken 2 months...regular post

up until recently I have sold internationally, until during august when registered post international was not enough to stop a US buyer filling an INR. I have all the documentation but is not enough and you end up wearing the cost of post, fees the item (and they keep it when it eventually arrives) all because ebay require proof of Delivery (and it hasn't been delivered yet). I am very disappointed as international sales was a large part of my sales, but is not worth the time or the stress. particularly when to top it off they give you bad feedback too,

read up on seller protection, and how it is there for things out of your control (eg pandemic) and then forget about it. its all BS - doesn't exist if your item is delayed by covid.

be very careful as from experience the USPS doesn't connect well with APost system and your tracking no. is no-where to be found over time. stick to express if you must.

Re: International postage. Anybody using Standard for their sales?

*tippy*toes* — Tue, 29 Sep 2020 10:44:12 GMT

The tracking on my US sales stopped on AP after they were scanned as arriving in the US. They then showed up on the USPS site and tracked all the way until delivery. My Post was then updated as being delivered.

Re: International postage. Anybody using Standard for their sales?

onekiwi0 — Tue, 29 Sep 2020 12:29:30 GMT

that would make sense tippy, in my case, after it reached san fran, the no. could not be found on the USPS site.... and is yet to be delivered..

Re: International postage. Anybody using Standard for their sales?

love_of_cars — Mon, 05 Oct 2020 12:30:04 GMT

Note that AP are sending parcels to UK by sea again. I've had two parcels diverted from airmail to go by sea, so hopefully arrival by Xmas. My guess is due to the big second pandemic wave they are currently experiencing causing flights to be cancelled.

Re: International postage. Anybody using Standard for their sales?

jane-de-cluttering — Mon, 05 Oct 2020 21:54:46 GMT

My only recent o/s post was to NZ and it took about 10 days. Fine.

In terms of UK, my mother and I each subscribe to two different weekly magazines. Postage is erratic. Perhaps once every 2 months we get a whole heap, and then nothing. As others have said, air flights must be the problem.

Re: International postage. Anybody using Standard for their sales?

porcelain_dolls_by_me — Tue, 06 Oct 2020 07:48:26 GMT

There is nothing on the AusPost website about diverting parcels to sea - only the fact sea mail services resumed on 14th August

Re: International postage. Anybody using Standard for their sales?

padraicpaul91 — Tue, 06 Oct 2020 23:09:04 GMT

Thanks for your response. It gives me confidence to return to offering Standard, probably in the new year. Given the Chistmas buying season is almost with us, with it's inevitable backlogs, I'll take the hit to sales until then.

I wish it were possible to offer Standard to specific countries like UK or US, rather than the one in,all in system that ebay offers. My last sale, using Express, was to Bulgaria. No idea how long Standard would take to get there.

Re: International postage. Anybody using Standard for their sales?

curraone — Wed, 07 Oct 2020 00:29:49 GMT

@padraicpaul91 wrote:

I wish it were possible to offer Standard to specific countries like UK or US, rather than the one in,all in system that ebay offers. My last sale, using Express, was to Bulgaria. No idea how long Standard would take to get there.

Of course you can offer only to UK and US, and/or: just update your postage preferences.

Site preferences > Manage postage setting s> Excluding postage locations > EDIT >

Re: International postage. Anybody using Standard for their sales?

wilmajames123 — Sat, 10 Oct 2020 05:00:52 GMT

I had to stop selling to the US, pretty well my only market, when the cheap option for large letters was dropped at the beginning of the pandemic. A few days ago my post office people said it had been restored for the UK and a few other markets, not the US, and everything would be reviewed in the New Year.

Re: International postage. Anybody using Standard for their sales?

andrew0123 — Sun, 11 Oct 2020 19:07:20 GMT

I use to send DVDs/CDs/cassettes letter rate before the virus. This was fine but hardly ever arrived before one month, and lucky to arrive on or before Estimated delivery, and it was always stressful knowing a new case would be coming up. The upside was that delivery was cheap and I made a lot of sales. Since the virus, i have used only standard, meaning much, much less sales as price has gone from 9 to upto 30 per item for int. post. Sendle are good, but their prices seem to fluctuate based on australia posts current rates and services and when offering free post there is always a chance that someone will buy from a rural locale which sendles fees are exorbitant at times.

For 500 gram parcels, not that much has changed but about 20% increase in price. Although parcels sent with standard get there on time almost every time so they definetly prioritise standard over economy. I will likely be staying with standard for parcels, and need to consider weather to keep sending economy letters for 125 gram or under. Having to negotiate with buyers regarding delayed parcels is troublesome and many do not respond at all leaving you not knowing whether you will get a strike. For professionality, i think standard is better (a courier is equivalent to standard as they always track) but for profit economy wins. I find it similar to using free post - free post means you are protected if you are part of ebay plus (more professional) but lower sales (due to price increase, for me anyway).

Re: International postage. Anybody using Standard for their sales?

andrew0123 — Sun, 11 Oct 2020 19:10:41 GMT

I have never used express. But will consider using it for higher priced items, or as an option atleast. What are the benefits of express and do people pay for express for low price items? If not, what price does your item have to be to justify international express?

Re: International postage. Anybody using Standard for their sales?

yarmak — Tue, 13 Oct 2020 12:21:18 GMT

benifiets of express:

tracking

updates by email

sig by buyer at other end

supposedly faster post times

Most do not want express because of the cost but you can get tracking.. and sig on delivery as an extra $5.50

Dave

Re: International postage. Anybody using Standard for their sales?

padraicpaul91 — Mon, 23 Nov 2020 10:02:13 GMT

Some will pay express for items as low as $30, so they are paying more for the postage than the item.

The one and only benefit of express is the reliability of speedy delivery.

My international sales have gone from near half of turnover to more like 20%. But no hassles with customers.

Looking forward to going back to Standard.