Astronomical postage costs are killing sales

[kustomizer99]

It now costs over $12 to send a tiny package if the item enclosed is more than 2 cm wide with packing. So the buyers are just walking away. There's no longer any point in listing individual items, rather everything needs to be listed in bulk to make postage seem 'reasonable' to prospective buyers.

Rather than just trying to gouge us for as much as they think they can get away with, this time Austpost have really pushed the market beyond what it can bear.

[kustomizer99]

Well, the Azaaz site has shown that signing petitions can make a big difference for some extremely worthy causes, and I suggest everyone checks it out.

But as to whether a bureaucratic monopoly like AustPost is going to be swayed by the outrage of a few disgruntled eBay sellers, I'm not so sure.... but I'll sign it anyway ]:)

[the-kazbar]

I already signed the petition a few days ago but I wonder .. would writing a letter of dissatisfaction really make a difference? I'm not saying it's not a great cause to fight for, but does complaining with a majority ever really work?

I figure it has to do more than just staying mute. Nothing Ventured, Nothng Gained.

If we sit back and say nothing AP with think "Great! Lets raise them again in September"

The petition has also helped attract other attention to the cause. I have done a radio interview about it and have organised 2 othfor other sellers. In additon to that there has been numerous newspaper articles and a TV interview that werw all a direct result of the petition.

As well, may many people have complained on the AP facebook page, through their website and over the phone to customer support. Many of us have also written to politicians asking them to re-examine the International Parcel Agreement.

[kustomizer99]

Well done, Kazbar!

What's the International Parcel Agreement?

[the-kazbar]

It is something that the Australian Governemtn sign, along with many other countries, that determine how much each country gets paid to deliver everoyone else's international mail.

As you can imagine, China do very well out of the current deal because while they send out millions of parcels a day, very few parcels get sent to China 😞

Until our government (whoever they should be next) gets some gumption about them and starts to actually take an active appraoch to online sales and the way it affects commerce around the world, we will always be getting the wrong end of the pineapple.

[punch*drunk]

Why are so many sellers paying out for signature on delivery for low cost items?

[davewil1964]

Not just SOD, punch, extra cover as well.

I can post 500g satchels for $7.45 from next week and I intend to do so. That gives me Paypal seller protection as I only have to prove postage to the correct address NOT receipt by the buyer. So SOD is a waste of money, imo, unless you need insurance for an expensive item.

I will admit that the bulk of my sales seem to go as large letters these days. Which is a bit of a worry as the bulk of my stock increasingly won't.

[kustomizer99]

'That gives me Paypal seller protection as I only have to prove postage to the correct address NOT receipt by the buyer.'

I sure hope so!! I've been wanting to sell a lot of under $10 items without having to pay additional for delivery confirmation, however that's done now for large letters. I'm hoping the new tracking 'service' will be adequate for PayPal's automatons.

[davewil1964]

C&S tracking has always been compliant with Paypal's requirements.

As I said, you only have to prove postage to the buyer, which you get with C&S because the buyer's address is recorded on the AP database and in the confirmation email they send you, which you naturally keep a copy of...

[kustomizer99]

What is click and send? I'm afraid I actually have to go into a post office whenever I want to send something. The mouse doesn't make it suddenly whizz through the air....

[punch*drunk]

https://www.clickandsend.com.au/home/NISS_frm_home.php?sz_Client=AustraliaPost

You can process your parcels through the above website, print up the labels, attach them to the parcels and then lodge & pay at your post office.

They also have prepaid satchels and boxes that need to be paid online via cc or paypal. Although with the new range of prices the small parcel rate is cheaper than the 500g prepaid satchel.

You can link your ebay account to your click and send account and then all the addresses will be prefilled and the tracking number automatically sent to Ebay.