Australia Post - Cost Effective Method

[playme245]

Hi, I'm new to selling products & no any experience with Australia post.

Could you please help me to find cost effective best method to send an item within Australia. (can we send a low weight item in a letter satchel? I'm confused)

I appreciate your advices & experience sharing with me. 

Thank you in advance!

[Anonymous · Accepted solution]

It really depends on what you are intending to sell.  Just remember that you need to specify the type of postage you will use and whether there is tracking included ( highly recommend tracking as they will with hold your funds if you fall below 95% tracked) 

If you are posting parcel size items, use the pre paid satchels 25c which give you upto 5kg without having to weigh, they come in 3 or 4 sizes. Buy as you need and lodge at the post office - you'll then get a tracking number to upload to the buyer.

If you're posting letter size consider prepaid envelopes with tracking but you need to fit into the width and weight regulations or buy a "signature on delivery' sticker which will also have tracking.

Australia Post have sizing guides you can get from them for free which will show you widths for letters.

You can also buy small kitchen style scales if your items are under a couple of kilos.

Start simple and list things you can post easily and effectively then get more adventurous when you've worked it all out. Good luck, selling on eBay can be a very rewarding experience 🙂 

[clickbaitoz · Accepted solution]

if you go to the Australia Post website on the top right there's a drop down list of Tools then 3rd down is Calculate Postage. This is really helpful so you can estimate your postage costs without going into the post office. You just need the measurements & weight of the item so it will give you  postage costs. 

Often it works out cheaper using their 'prepaid satchels' than using your own packaging. You still need to allow room to wrap the item in bubble wrap or something to protect it though.

If you don't have them already you could always buy some cheap scales online, they need to go down to grams so health type scales are not accurate, kitchen scales might be if they're flat enough. 

Also keep in mind not all po scales are totally accurate & neither might yours be, it may end up weighing a little more on their scales which means if it might cost you more than the online calculator says.

[p9games]

drive to your local post office.  Bring a few sample items with you.  You need to do your homework on this

[davewil1964]

A couple of points -

95% applies to items advertised as with tracking. I send around half my items by untracked letter and I don't get holds as my tracked items register 100%.

PREPAID satchels are $93.10 per 10-pack for small, more for larger sizes. The satchels you are referring to require the seller to pay for shipping on top of that. MyPost Business would be the best bet, as $50 spend (including for the satchels) per 4 weeks is cheaper than eBay labels.

[clickbaitoz · Accepted solution]

Which reminds me, i forgot to point out that the satchels i was referring to are with prepaid postage eg small for $9.40. Or you can get the bulk satchels where you are just using them as packaging, then you can prepay online for the actual postage, or pay for it when taking to post office.

MyPost Business might not be a good option if the seller is only sending things now & again, because then they have to outlay the $50 or whatever in the first place. 

Also i send alot of items as untracked large letters too and rarely had a problem with them getting to the buyer. As said, only items advertised as with tracking must be sent that way to comply with Ebay seller rules etc. But you're still taking a risk with anything send untracked.

[jellybirddesigns · Accepted solution]

As mentioned, you're the one who needs to do their homework on this. Everything comes down to what you are selling. Sometimes it's cost effective to use Aus Post packaging, sometimes it's better to use your own.

For me personally, I don't use the pre-paid satchels as they are a fixed price and you only get a small discount for buying in bulk. Instead, I send 90% of my items in my own plain white satchels which go by weight. If you set up an Aus Post Business account and send a fair bit, you can really save heaps off the postage sticker price - up to 40% domestically, depending on the band level you are on and where it is going to.

I use my own satchels as I buy them 1000 at a time and end up paying something like 5-7c each, compared to the other Aus Post satchels which you have to pay 25c + shipping.

These options may not suit your business model and items though.

If you are sending low weight flat items, then look at the A4 green domestic letter as you get tracking and it costs about $6.00. However, if someone purchases multiple items, then you'll need to change from a domestic letter to a parcel due to thickness.

When I first started several years ago, I took some of my items to the PO so that I could work out the best shipping options both domestically and internationally, as well as how the prices and packaging options changed depending on weight and thickness and therefore how to charge the buyer accordingly.

There are lots and lots of options and sometimes the best way to learn is by trial and error.

[davewil1964]

MyPost Business might not be a good option if the seller is only sending things now & again, because then they have to outlay the $50 or whatever in the first place. 

You obviously haven't bothered to spend the few minutes to research how MyPost Business works.

Nor to understand that you have now confirmed you are devi-rett.

[Anonymous]

Hi, just read the thread and just to clarify - I’m Devi Rett 👋 no idea who clickbaitoz is but it ain’t me. My response to the original question posed was purely based on in initial intermittent selling, a suggestion as a start point as you can buy satchels one off and they are an easy option. 

[4476.iveco]

We buy a box of 100 small Auspost satchels (10 x 10 packs) for $15 & pay the postage as required.  Mediums & large are a little more.