Hi All
I do not post here much, but this has got me absolutely fired up.
Australia Post had advised our local Post Office Agency that there were new forms for International Parcels to be used from today, Monday 18th April. There was a new brochure for pricing of international parcels, but nothing about changes to International Letters.
So at the counter this morning, the PO manager grabs me as I enter with my 50 odd parcels and packages. 30 of those were to be letter post to the USA.
The manager advised that the postal system had changed and that merchandise is no longer permitted within International Letter post. He was trying to work out how to help as he was expecting me and he was on the phone to the area manager.
The process and system has changed. It is our the understanding that all merchandise, no matter how small, must ship as a parcel for a minimum of AU$15 to the USA where it was a minimum of AU$3 previously. This is a 400% increase ! We sent items that weigh 10grams. The size 0 padded bag we send them in weighs as much as the item for a total of maybe 20grams. Why do we need to send these as a parcel in amongst the 2 Kilogram and larger parcels? It is crazy.
But if we set aside the price increase for the moment and look at what it means for processing.
The new labels are bigger than the old forms and do not have a number on them. The tracking / parcel number is only provided after the item is lodged.
The new forms are in triplicate, with carbonless type paper and require that we fill them out in black pen, then the post office staff will enter the details into the computer, then the computer will print 5 small labels which they then place on the parcel.
1 label says Airmail (Duh!) and another a bar code. Both of these need to be peeled and placed on the parcel docket above the address area.
Another label with the postage cost and the barcode is placed on the front of the parcel.
The other two bar codes are stuck to the duplicate yellow and triplicate green copies of the parcel form. The yellow form stays at the post office and the green form gets put back inside the slip case that it came from.... (yep, rip it out, stick a label on it, and put it back!) so it can go to the customs department.
As the sender, we do not get a copy of that form. So we get no record of where or what we sent. We get the tracking number on our receipt but no other information.
Overall the form filling process takes around 5 minutes for me at home and 5 minutes for each parcel at the post office while the staff.
So if I send 1 parcel a week it is not really an issue, but I am preparing 50 or more parcels a week and what used to take a minute per parcel is now a lot longer process.
But that is all irrelevant as it assumes that I can get customers to accept the costs of $15 or $25 to post a $4 item.
It is an impossible situation. The cost will reduce our sales, the time consumed makes it a waste of time doing the prep work, and all up we have to re-think why we would bother trying to trade with this un-viable impost.
