Australia Post, USPS and Royalmail are killing the Golden Goose

[timakempton]

The recent rise in international parcel post charges by killing international trade by making it too expensive to sell internationally. Is this a case of them killing the Golden Goose by trying to cash in on the increased parcel traffic or is it an intentional strategy by the respective Governments to prop up the local retailers profits by making it to expensive to buy from other western countries?? Don't they realise that by doing this they just encourage more trade with China and other countries in Asia that provide cheap delivery and low prices??

I just don't get it!

A 2kg parcel from the UK is now a minimum of £33 ($48) and a medium size Priority Flat Rate Box from the US is US$59.95!! So much for buying from the US and the UK......

[timakempton]

Moorna you could not be more wrong. These postal services have been shipping parcels for many years and in the last 10 years the costs of international air transport have come down and the volumes have risen dramatically. The net effect of increased volume should be lower cost!

The net effect of cheaper aircraft operational costs should be lower cost! There is no justifiable reason for these increased charges. It's clearly either profiteering or political interference in the free market that has grown through the Internet.

As for your comment on standard costs as opposed to priority, the FACT is that PayPal requires USPS Priority as a minimum standard for these deliveries because of the requirement for tracking and insurance.

As for your comment about the US government forbidding price increases, that was on domestic letters not parcels and not at all on international post, not ever. In fact if knew anything about dealing with USPS for parcels you would know about the recent money grab of them imposing a $9 inspection charge using Homeland Security as an excuse which they were forced to remove because it was not true...

[pay-back!!!]

My LPO refused to collect the AU$9.00 surcharge. So it was instantly the point of contact for all my shipments to the US over the 500g mark. Only in America?

[davewil1964]

The $9 surcharge was withdrawn last year. Which is hardly relevant to OP's complaint. The $9 was outgoing; OP is complaining about having to support the Australian economy by buying from Australian sellers.

[bookmanx500]

Here are some of the reasons why parcel cost have increased;

USPS

Last year made 15.9 BILLION $ LOSS

Defaulted on a 11.1 repayment to the US Treasury

In October last was at one point down to 4 days cash on hand to fund operations.

Currently has 20 Billion $ budget shortfall

Is losing 25 Million$ per day

Needs to generate 20 Billion $ in savings and revenue by 2016 to remain viable.

So no doubt more service reductions and cost increases in the future.

Royal Mail

Were loss making several years ago but have been making changes and only its
PARCEL SERVICE is currentyl losing money.

Hence the increases to bring it in to profitabilty

Barrie

[pay-back!!!]

USPS is obviously doing something wrong. Like the rest of the US economy though.. I am sure China's Postal Service is humming along!

[judyfidella]

If this is correct, why do I find that it pays me to buy clothes from the UK?

And why do so many daft Aussie sellers complain about lack of buyers, and still charge $8 for a lightweight item within Australia, when everybody knows that AP Click & Send will track the thing for $6.20?

I know I can post a blouse or summer dress for $6.20- why do so many sellers load up their postage?

[pay-back!!!]

If the Australia item is listed in the US (which I do) there is a 9% fee on the shipping too? Sellers might be covering the eBay cut? If buyers select the lowest price option wth the shipping factored in I am sure they will select the best item, based on price. The postage costs should be clearly outlined for an item in Australia or for USPS shipped items in the US, unlike the stupid Global Shipping Program? I am sure a 500g blouse or dress shall cost more than the equivalent of AU$6.20 and AU$8.00 from the UK or US.  

[1.35.scale.models]

As mentioned by a previous member it is the UNIVERSAL POSTAL OBLIGATION (U.P.O.) that is the problem

Basically it is an agreement most Countries sign up to where each country agrees to deliver each others mail FOR FREE! It is a reciprocal arrangement so Australia Post does not charge USPS anything to deliver an item posted from the US to Australia and vise versa.

The problem is with China, everyone around the world delivers all of China's millions of tons of mail for free, but no one posts anything to china so there is no ballance, so we are all subsidising cheap Chinese postage because Australia Post does not charge them anything to deliver anything they send anywhere in Australia.

The worlds postal services should cancel the U.P.O. and charge each other for each item delivered, we have enough technology now that each service provided can be calculated fairly so that no one is subsidising the Chinese, Taiwanese or Vietnamese postal services that do not have the volumes of reciprocated mail to make the system fair.

This would give Australia post to recover some of their costs and hopefully allow all of us to pay less for our domestic postage and increase the cost of crud coming in from China etc.

[davewil1964]

If this is correct, why do I find that it pays me to buy clothes from the UK?

And why do so many daft Aussie sellers complain about lack of buyers, and still charge $8 for a lightweight item within Australia, when everybody knows that AP Click & Send will track the thing for $6.20?

I know I can post a blouse or summer dress for $6.20- why do so many sellers load up their postage?

Plus the cost of packaging, plus the cost of the satchel - 15c minimum.

Silly me, I thought the total postage cost would include minor things like that.

[zanadoo_56]

The US postage prices have gone up so much I've cut back on my spending.  Also I've noticed where cheaper postage is possible, sellers are not offering it to overseas buyers.  Unfortunately the stuff I like to buy doesn't come from China, and I don't see all that much from Oz either.  For some UK purchases the postage rates are still acceptable, but I suppose that could change.  Oh well, it looks like I'll be saving more than spending! 🙂