Auspost eParcel contract and rates?

[nextparty]

Hi guys,

I send around 20-30 parcels per week. That's over 1000 parcels per year. I thought I was qualified to sign up eParcel service.

But after calling up Australia Post eParcel customer service, they suggested I stick with MyPost Business. They also suggested I probably can only get a better rate than current if I send 20+ parcels per day.

Is anyone currently using eParcel service? Are they telling the truth about "sending 20+ parcels per day"?

Thanks in advance!

[digital*ghost]

This is anecdotal, as likewise, I use My Post Business - I know sellers on eParcel contracts that still buy 500g satchels in bulk because it's cheaper than their eParcel rates, so I am not surprised by what you've been told by Aus Post. 

They get good rates on international postage, and if their contract is for dead weight only (rather than cubed for larger parcels), it is generally pretty good for the larger ones, but I've seen more than a few say that overall the value for money isn't really there (especially when you consider they can lose 'privileges' in exchange for lower prices, like access to compensation). 

[green_butterfly]

like here too. Mypost Business is cheaper and better because you have some benifits of the service like tracking and free redirection from the reciver if they requested and more. make sure just sent 20+ parcel per week . Where e-parcel, my trick  is ask for the fixed dead weight contract and null the cubic per parcel. I know one company they told me they are paying only less than 5 per express parcel under 500 grams. If you can do it good luck!

[djavusydney]

What auspost required is $50 worth of parcels thus if you have $7 parcel, you need around 7 parcels minimum.they also need yearly parcels pickup of 1000 parcels, on weekly it's around 20 parcels.

[eol-products]

Do you know of anyone that gets better rates with eparcel than mypost and how many parcels they needed to qualify to get it.

[everything_id]

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@eol-products wrote:

Do you know of anyone that gets better rates with eparcel than mypost and how many parcels they needed to qualify to get it.

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I'm also interested to know this?

[digital*ghost]

Sorry for the late reply - I never saw this post until now 

Unfortunately the answer is both yes and no.

Contracts and rates are very seller specific, T&Cs that apply to one will not apply to another, and whether you get a better deal than My Post is really going to depend on the weight / volume of your average package, as well as how many packages you send to what Aus Post consider "rural" areas. 

Some sellers on eParcel have contracts where they are charged on dead weight only, while others will always be charged the higher of the two between dead weight and cubed. Other sellers I know use pre-paid satchels for a lot of their packages, and only use eParcel for large / heavy shipments. 

Some sellers don't have extra cover as standard with their parcel rates, and return post (if the package is RTS for any reason) is more expensive than a regular parcel of that size / weight.

I can tell you only one (possibly helpful) anecdote, which is that one seller I know was advised by Aus Post not to even bother asking about eParcel unless / until they are sending at least 1000 parcels a year (20+ per week), otherwise My Post was their best option. 

[eol-products]

They took 4 weeks to get back to me on a price.

Some rates where better than mypost best rate but many rural ones where much higher.

Same state is cheaper than interstate so added an extra discount ontop of the 3 mypost offer.

I think the prices I had where for 2000/year.

[biltong2go]

Yes it's true that eParcel is based on volume,

we send approximately 7,000 parcels per year,
so 1,000 parcels per years is not that much, but probably just enough to qualify for eParcel.

For us, eParcel was good for:

• all parcels <= 500g, and
• almost all parcels within the same state.

But we had these disadvantages:

• No Express Post Guarantee
• No included compensation, even if Australia Post loses a parcel or admits that they delivered it to the incorrect address.
  (you can pay extra for insurance)
• There is a 'fuel surcharge', and now
• Since 1st March 2020, there is a "Security Management Fee" of 3.85%!
  They did not inform us of this fee, but simply added it to our invoice, and I wish I could talk to a lawyer because for the last 4 months we have been paying this secret fee without realising.

We also use MailPlus (Toll courier) and even buy some Express Post Satchels.

For any parcel, we have a complicated decision tree to calculate which is the best method to use.

We send almost all parcels Express because our products are perishable.

However, in late 2019, they increased the prices, and now eParcel is not that great,

we are seeing some better rates with MyPost, but we still use plenty of eParcel for parcels <= 500g.


The short answer is everything depends on:

• How many parcels
• where they go to
• how many are 'regular' and how many 'express'
• cubic weight: are the parcels bigger than they are heavy (high cubic weight, low dead weight), or smaller than they are heavy (low cubic weight, high dead weight)

[davewil1964]

There's a further Band (5) coming in on Saturday with MyPost. That might swing things further that way. I don't know as I got the notification but haven't been able to find the new rates. Like most things AP, it probably won't be available until it's live.