topic Advice on couriers.. in Selling

Advice on couriers..

valdoe — Fri, 22 Feb 2013 07:42:18 GMT

I am fed up with Australia post.

They seem to be making more profit on my item then I am.

I made a $10 profit on an item and all my items are packed in a satchel and on average weight between 1 to 2 kg

Using C&S calculator I charge according to what it says. . but in the very fine print hidden amongst a sea of type is a clause saying they may cube the parcel, which I believe do not know that.

One parcel I sent today said it cost $20 but when I went to the post office costed me $25. I cannot lower my postage because my competitors are even charging less.. no they did not bump up the price of the item.

I have come to think they may be using couriers.

I checked fastway and yes they are cheaper but they do not deliver outside cities.. eg they service the Sydney Area but if you send a parcel to Bathurst area they do not cover the area.

I looked at TOLL DHL Star Track Express TNT Toll as per ebay notice.. but will I run into the same problem?

Execpt Fastway the other couriers do not have prices showing on their sites.

Could people that use couriers give me help.

Can you advise who I should be looking at and who to stay away from..

Any help would be appreciated.

Re: Advice on couriers..

shepherdsrule — Fri, 22 Feb 2013 08:27:27 GMT

Are you using eBay C&S satchels ?

Check this link: http://auspost.com.au/parcels-mail/click-and-send.html

Re: Advice on couriers..

valdoe — Fri, 22 Feb 2013 09:20:20 GMT

The C/S satchels are too small even the prepaid 5 kg satchels are a few inches too small.

Re: Advice on couriers..

davewil1964 — Fri, 22 Feb 2013 09:23:24 GMT

Does the B4 box work? That's about $17 including postage.

Re: Advice on couriers..

monstersinthedungeon — Fri, 22 Feb 2013 09:27:26 GMT

http://www.temando.com/

Re: Advice on couriers..

lyndal1838 — Fri, 22 Feb 2013 14:36:34 GMT

As far a I am aware none of the companies you have mentioned will deal with one off parcels. You need to have an account with them and be sending large amounts of freight.

From a buyer's point of view I would not recommend Fastway if you want return buyers.....they are slow and more often than not will dump the parcels in front of the door in full view of passersby, even when the recipient is home. But they do service interstate and county areas...I am in Sydney and have had Fastway deliveries from Victoria and Queensland.

I would check out the Temando website...they are a courier broker and give you a choice of courier companies for each individual parcel.

Re: Advice on couriers..

dowd_hardware — Fri, 22 Feb 2013 22:35:14 GMT

I've been using http://www.transdirect.com.au/

So far I haven't had any complaints from customers

Re: Advice on couriers..

phorum_junkie* — Fri, 22 Feb 2013 23:46:16 GMT

If you are using click & send with your own packaging then why aren't you using the calculated postage option and inputting the size so that buyers see the correct cost to their postcode?

If you are not using the ebay satchels or AP boxes then click & send parcels are treated just the same as any other parcel and subject to cubing if over 500g, the only difference is the $1.50 extra you pay to give yourself Paypal protection.

Re: Advice on couriers..

acetoneco-z — Fri, 07 Jun 2013 13:11:26 GMT

I've had the worst experience with Fastway couriers. You'll have more PayPal claims on your hands if you use them. They are the most unreliable, rude and unprofessional courier service in Oz. they may not be rude to you as a seller because they're happy to take your money when you use them. But as far as the customers receiving their goods is a different story. There were a few times when they lie about leaving a calling card to say that they've attempted delivery but in reality never actually show up (and of course no card calling card). And continually lie about the many attempted re-delivery they've done even though someone was home all day for the whole week. The online tracking is useless because everything there is just rubbish and lies about what they've done so far.

So if you'd like a successful and relatively pain free eBay business in Oz. avoid Fastway couriers at all cost. They are the worst and extremely unreliable courier company to have been formed.

Re: Advice on couriers..

arnl7178 — Fri, 07 Jun 2013 15:12:58 GMT

Do not use Priority X Couriers. Their website shows cheap prices, but you get what you pay for. Trust me. Avoid at all costs.

In general, I would try and avoid couriers as much as possible. A lot of people wont buy from you for that reason alone.

There's many reasons why people don't like couriers and the biggest seem to be that if your buyer isn't home, the courier company won't re-deliver and their depot is too far away for the buyer to go and pick the item up.

AP may appear more expensive, but at least, they are usually reliable.

Re: Advice on couriers..

*new2vintage — Fri, 07 Jun 2013 17:31:31 GMT

Look at the date for post number 7 arnl.....

Re: Advice on couriers..

arnl7178 — Fri, 07 Jun 2013 18:18:52 GMT

I was just keeping you on your toes Deja 😛

Re: Advice on couriers..

*new2vintage — Fri, 07 Jun 2013 18:27:48 GMT

Yeah sure ! B-)

Re: Advice on couriers..

australiapoststore — Tue, 11 Jun 2013 05:24:15 GMT

Good Afternoon

I'm sorry to hear you have experienced issues with the cost of posting an item by Click and Send.

The calculator tool is just estimation as we cannot guarantee pricing over the internet as we can't physically weigh the package.

The reason that we take into consideration the cubic weight as well as the dead weight, is that some parcels may be incredibly light, though take up a lot of room in our parcel cages and trucks. For example, if you are sending 1Kg of packing peanuts, the box would take up a lot more room to ship than say a kilo of lead ingots.

Considering both weights when calculating postage allows us to charge both parcels at a fairer rate that takes into account the costs to us of transporting each parcel than using only one or the other would.

I hope this makes sense and helps clear matters up for you.

Deb

Re: Advice on couriers..

the-kazbar — Tue, 11 Jun 2013 06:02:12 GMT

Hi Deb,

this is an old thread but while you are here, can I ask you a question?

If the space in the truck is the issue, why is it that AP charges the higher of the two amounts every time ie if the item is small but heavy then the cubing rate is not used but dead weight is, but if the item is light and bulky then the cubing rate applies.

Surely it is one or the other? The size or the weight.

AP wouldn't really want to have a bit each way would they?

Doesn't really seem fair does it?

Re: Advice on couriers..

lyndal1838 — Tue, 11 Jun 2013 07:36:36 GMT

Australia Post charges whatever way they can get the most money for....of course they want to have a bit each way.

Re: Advice on couriers..

davewil1964 — Tue, 11 Jun 2013 12:06:09 GMT

Devil's advocate here.

2 tonne of lead ingots would not fill a van up, but anything else would overload it. It seems to me to be a reasonable tradeoff. The vans have a fixed load carrying capacity but they also have a fixed cargo volume. So the better (AP wise) amount would tend towards the average.

Re: Advice on couriers..

lyndal1838 — Tue, 11 Jun 2013 12:49:46 GMT

2 tonnes of lead ingots would fit in our van but we could not deliver it....we would probably write the van off.:^O

We could not deliver 2 tonnes of feathers either as the volume would not fit in.:^O

Re: Advice on couriers..

davewil1964 — Tue, 11 Jun 2013 13:01:10 GMT

My point exactly.

Feathers or lead?

Do you know Conrad?

Re: Advice on couriers..

oostuff4saleoo — Wed, 07 Aug 2013 10:40:01 GMT

Try deliveranything.com.au

they are a new delivery service