Australia Post - have they lost the plot?

[tonalidesigns]

The latest increase in postage costs has prompted this post.

Australia Post is currently losing around $70m a year, largely apparently because of the costs incurred for delivering items which arrive from overseas (as a result of some sort of international postage treaty agreement and probably also as a result of various free trade agreements).

I actually don't have a real problem with any of this in theory  - but I DO have a big problem with the way it is implemented, especially as it seems that the latest round of price (and more importantly) policy adjustments (eg the apparent extension of cubing to items weighing under 500g) to DOMESTIC costs are driven to a large extent by the need to recover this loss.

If Government (or its utilities) agree to international treaties that should - and usually is - a cost born by government through general taxes. 

Except - apparently - postage. Here the Australian user pays not only for their own costs of postage but is also paying for the costs of imported items.

My view is that if there are treaties we have entered into that increase costs to AP then these need to be excluded from any domestic costings ... as these are intergovernmental agreements that's a government cost.

And if you want to get an idea of just how much Oz Post is straying from its core business go to their home page. What you'll see is a picture of Halong Bay (just over the border from China) and a promo for buying international money cards.

Silly me .. I thought Australia Post's prime business was the delivery of letters and parcels.

[dylan11235813]

not all items can fit into satchels or even box,if that box was a bit wide also satchels(

what about a box full of boxes

[viewmont1071]

So, catspjs, I doubt it will affect my hip pocket. Jens, sorry if it does yours.

do you buy stuff online??

[viewmont1071]

http://auspost.com.au/media/documents/April-8-2013-New-international-zones.pdf

The USA is in the new zone 5

.... while our closer neighbors Papua New Guinea, Cook Islands, Nauru and Tonga are in Zone 6 (that used to be zone 1 pacific)

what a rip off

[putney32]

USA is still in Zone 4,

and Europe has been split into 2 different zones, even countries next to one another like

Germany is in 6 but Austria is in 7

denoting to me that the 'zoning' is now in line with ''usage''

ie. cheaper to send to Germany because out mail output to Germany is higher and there are direct flights there from Aus.

[phorum_junkie*]

PJ - not sure I understand what you are saying ....

... last time I purchased an item from China (which was a while ago) I didn't get charged any extra by Australia Post, ad I haven't seen any reports or feedback from buyers purchasing from China suggesting they are being hit by Australia Post for the costs ... unless its duty on items priced over $1000.

I wasn't saying that buyers pay any extra, I was asking how it could be managed if every country did not agree to deliver international parcels at no extra cost. If they didn't then how would they get the extra money for cheap Chinese postage and would they give a refund, and to whom, if AP rates were cheaper than the country of origin.

.

[the-kazbar]

As far as buying goes, I have alternate suppliers for what I need, and I'm sure at least one of them will be able to accommodate the increased AP prices without pricing themselves out of the market.

Dave - the really massive online sellers like DD will be okay as they have the power to band together and come to a deal with AP so yes you probably will find an alternative supplier.

But.. when DD, and the like, no longer have many smaller sellers to compete with, do you think the prices will stay as they are now?

[valdoe]

I am confused.. reading the notice from the PO as from 8 April.. unless I missed the very fine print.. it states that the new postal charges will now be one price, you then have to look at their chart and see what zone you sending it to eg n1, s2 etc. and you will see a new charge of what it cost per KG extra you have to add.

eg sending a parcel to Vic zone 2 that weights 3 kg will now cost

Standard charge will be = $11.45

Zone v2 = $2.55/kg x 3  =  $7.65

Total cost                     = $19.10

No where do I see that they still cubing parcels

[curraone]

the cubing question seems to be for those sellers who have contracts with Aust Post and have received letters saying that their parcels have to be cubed.

in the ordinary announcement for 8 April, there is no mention of all parcels having to be cubed.

not that I can see anyway - so might be big panic over nothing for smaller sellers.

[curraone]

I am confused.. reading the notice from the PO as from 8 April.. unless I missed the very fine print.. it states that the new postal charges will now be one price, you then have to look at their chart and see what zone you sending it to eg n1, s2 etc. and you will see a new charge of what it cost per KG extra you have to add.

eg sending a parcel to Vic zone 2 that weights 3 kg will now cost

Standard charge will be = $11.45

Zone v2 = $2.55/kg x 3  =  $7.65

Total cost                     = $19.10

No where do I see that they still cubing parcels

so for me from Q2 to V2 would be $11.45 plus $9 = $20.45  and at the moment it is $19.95, so the price increase is 50 cents?

[beach_and_home]

Curraone I think you have missed most of the info. The cubing thing is for ALL parcels, even those under 500grams and even for those that are not a squarish shape, and it's for all customers. They are installing cubing machines in sorting centres so no-one will be able to get away with not cubing. Up till now there have been ways around it. Basically it depends on what you sell as to how much it will affect you.

If you sell light large items that weigh less than 500grams you could be in for a shock. Best to go through all of these discussions and find all of the Aust Post links and have a good read.