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

[moviemem]

Does anyone have a link to how the new international package rates will apply. Surely Australia Post would be making some sort of announcement about it.

[transport-posters]

From what I understand, we put all the info into this form and then stick the barcode sticker from it onto the parcel which relates to the service we want to use to send the parcel.  So the form stays with the PO, the barcode from it is what links it to the parcel.  So the parcel will have the barcode sticker matching the form.  I think...

They told me to look on the website to find out more info but I cannot find a thing!  This is really bad... it's not far away and it looks like a big change in how we should prepare our docs for sending stuff.  I don't know what to do come April 18... and they didn't know what I should do either.

I think I will just have to bring all my parcels in on the day with no customs declarations or stickers and spend an hour working it all out with them at the counter!  They also can't supply me with a pack of forms or stickers for several weeks, as AP doesn't have enough stock printed to sent to PO's to then pass on to regulars like me.

A little fact that some may not know is that they don't really do anything with the current green international slips which we give them.  They just staple them together and file them away in case of an issue which might crop up with one of the parcels.  It's just the sticker part which is important.  I even once forgot to bring in the detached slips and they said don't worry.  They are probably moving to this system to also increase security, efficiency and tracking.

Just wish it was cheaper since we will have to do more work to send our parcels and they are doing this also to reduce the amount of different forms that we use currently.

[moviemem]

I have a contract with Australia Post and have no idea how this will affect ELMS statements, lodgements, etc. Presumably they will have to provide a new contract altogether as the current one specifies prices for Pack and Track etc.

Not impressed.

[digital*ghost]

Ya gotta love how AP are making sure their customers are aware of all the important info.... 

I logged into C&S today, and there was an announcement with a link to further info, so I clicked it and scanned for info on pricing.

Towards the end, they have an expandable FAQs list, the first one is, What are the prices of the new products?

AP's "answer" (to their own, very specific, question mind you) :

There are no changes to our international letter pricing, however the pricing for our international parcel options is changing in line with the introduction of our new simplified product set.

From 18 April, we will structure our prices around 4 new speed-based parcels services – Courier, Express, Standard and Economy – for 9 international zones.

Our new international parcels products will completely replace our existing product set, with associated changes to the included and add-on features. When combined with international zone changes, pricing comparisons can only be presented as averages.

Under the new pricing structure, it will be cheaper to send some international parcels to select international locations – for example, our International Post Express services are reducing in price while some other services may see minor price increases. The average price increase across all our international speed-based services is 2%.

Not one price mentioned, no link to a full table, nothing. 

The zone changes they mention is referring to the introduction of an extra zone (I think there's 4 now, so there'll be 5). 

They also mention dropping off packages in street boxes, so it actually sounds like since you don't need to present ID to lodge, you can just drop off packages rather than getting AP to process each one. My PO will be relieved if I can just whack my OS letters in the red box. 

https://auspost.com.au/sendoverseas

[moviemem]

So, you can't pick up the customs forms until 18th April. Anything not pre paid has to include the new customs forms. If you are mailing on the 18th April that makes it difficult, particularly for high volume sellers with a contract who need to be prepared in advance. I bet it will be hard to get the customs forms in time.

I didnt see anything about sellers who use their own packaging.

[davidc4430]

no change to letter pricing, well they have allready raised those and admitted its letter area is falling away.

so they know theres growth in parcels so they will slug us there.

but remember, AP loves delivering

price rises that is

[moviemem]

---

@digital*ghost wrote:

Ya gotta love how AP are making sure their customers are aware of all the important info....

The zone changes they mention is referring to the introduction of an extra zone (I think there's 4 now, so there'll be 5). 

---

There are currently 8 zones for international post. Having a lot of different zones is just a sneaky way of increasing charges, particularly for sellers who send multiple packages to different countries.

[moviemem]

---

@digital*ghost wrote:

They also mention dropping off packages in street boxes, so it actually sounds like since you don't need to present ID to lodge, you can just drop off packages rather than getting AP to process each one. My PO will be relieved if I can just whack my OS letters in the red box. 

---

I wouldnt suggest dropping items off in the red box. There is no proof of lodgement that way. They fail to scan many packages as it is so you would just be dropping it off and hoping that it shows up as being lodged.

[digital*ghost]

---

@moviemem wrote:

---

I wouldnt suggest dropping items off in the red box. There is no proof of lodgement that way. They fail to scan many packages as it is so you would just be dropping it off and hoping that it shows up as being lodged.

---

I don't get any proof of post with letter anyway, unfortunately, it's just an AP requirement that all international non-document packages (letters or parcels) are lodged in person over the counter so they can record the ID (which they don't do for me anyway, they just use the "known to staff" option). Sometimes I can be at the counter for quite a while, depending on how many international letters I have, so even when they're a little quieter it can cause the waiting line to back up a bit. 

It'll be interesting to see if any of the non-trackable barcodes will actually be tracked in the destination countries, though. 

[queenslander-1]

I know registered mail is untrackable according to Aust Post but if sending to Canada on Canada Post you can track and on the USA site trackable once it gets to the US.