Australia Post international postage big changes

[moviemem]

Apparently, Australia Post are going to bring in some significant changes to international postage towards the end of the month but I havent seen anything in print yet. Has anyone here heard of the changes - eg Pack and Track under a new name, etc

[digital*ghost]

I have some limited info, courtesy of my local PO, the AP announcements, and a fellow seller.

The new services (for parcels via airmail) will be economy and standard. Economy doesn't have tracking, standard does, and you can add SOD / insurance to it. 

Express international has come down in pricing , economy / standard seems to have gone up. For example, this evening I saw the price for a 500g standard (tracked) satchel to the US, which was $23.72 (the nearest current equivalent is a 500g Pack & Track parcel, current price $21.10). 

What I don't know is whether own-packaging will be the same as that price, or if that is the unit price of an AP satchel when bought in bulk so that you get a discount. I suspect it might be, because $23.72 is unusual for a full price single product from Australia Post, and if that has the maximum 10% bulk-purchase discount applied to it, the single, retail over the counter price of a standard 500g satchel to the US would actually be $26.35 (before anyone panics, this is pure speculation on my part based solely on me finding $23.72 an odd price).  

I saw a 500g express satchel to the US was about $42 or so, previously close to $60 I think, not 100% sure on those as I was mainly interested in the regular tracked pricing. 

[moviemem]

One Post Office said it would be starting on April 18th, another at the end of the month. The person I spoke to this morning said that they were moving towards classes (like Britain) eg first class, second class, etc.for international postage.

If they are going to make changes like this they should give everyone plenty of notice.

[digital*ghost]

These changes are definitely being implemented on the 18th - I'm pretty disappointed in the lack of notice, too, or lack of information to be more specific, especially considering not even AP staff can answer some of the most fundamental questions at the moment (pricing). I've asked my PO to save me a copy of the booklet as soon as they get one, but presumably most (if not all) POs will have them around the same time. 

A couple of things that I forgot to mention is that customs forms are also changing (the green CN22 forms can still be used on letters, plus economy - non-tracked - parcels). They're also larger, about A5 size, and you'll need to affix barcode labels to them according to the service that will be used. 

Economy, although it will still be air mail, will be slower than standard as well. (Standard is being quoted as 6+ business days, economy as 10+ business days). 

[photo-video-accessories-pty-ltd-australia]

I received the new form and stickers from my local PO yesterday. Only one form now which is used for all international services. Stickers are multipart and have one for the type of service (eg Express, Economy etc) which goes in a designated spot on the front  of the form and a barcode which goes in a spot beside it - also 2 more smaller barcodes which go on the flaps of the pull-out copies of the form.

It starts on 18 April as  we have been told we need to update our webstore which uses the AusPost pricing interface by then.

[moviemem]

Thanks for the information. I'm guessing that there will be an increase in prices. I have an Account Manager with Aust Post but havent heard a word about this as yet.

[jfmgray]

I got the booklet from my post office just now.  Starts on 18 April and parcel prices for most locations and weight increase.  For example, an up to 500 gram parcel to USA increases from $14.10 to $15.85 for the 'economy' international parcel post (10+ business days).  One form to replace the CN.  No mention of prices however for large letters.

[transport-posters]

Damn, that's a bit of a jump in the price.

[transport-posters]

Here's the new customs form.  Looks like we have to put the receiver's full details on the form also.

Previously I just had to put my full details on the old green slips.

[moviemem]

That new customs form looks like it could be too big for some packages.