Gotta say. there's more knucklehead buyers out there these days...

[motor*magz]

Ten years ago when I was selling, buyers expected a combined postage discount. And too right, so do I as a buyer.

Now, more often than not, buyers pay straight away for mulitple purchases and don't allow you any time to send them an invoice to save them money on postage, or even send me a request for an invoice probably never crossed their minds.

Sending them a partial refund less ebays non refundable fees has gotten tiresome

So I just message them now and offer a discount on their next purchase or purchases.

See how that goes.  

[jellybirddesigns]

Also, the more you send, the better your discount will be. There are 5-6 Bands in the Aus Post Biz account with increasing discounts depending on volume.

I'm on Band 5, so I get a discount of $1.83 on domestic postage labels and about $6.00 in discounts on an international label. 

[motor*magz]

Oh you mean the biz account bar code, yeah I saved that in my wallet on my phone for them to scan.

I thought the bag would need to be scanned too? doesn't look like there's any markings on them.

Coz, I used my own bag once, and didn't get a discount

[jellybirddesigns]

There's nothing on the bags - they will print the label and attach it.

You will definitely get a discount, even if you're on Band 1.

Just so you know - the label will still say $9.15 on it, but the actual price you pay to the PO is discounted.

[motor*magz]

I'm on band 3, so when I presented a package, an old ebay/AP flat rate bag turned inside out coz that's what they suggested  before - it would be the best thing to do with them (to use them up). unaware of the outcome, it turns out I still wouldn't get a discount, actually they quoted more due to the weight and post code, so I had to slip it inside one of their bags to get a discount! 

[motor*magz]

Maybe it's the postie

To use up old AP 500g - 3kg satchels, Kenwick PO would place a label with tracking on for nothing, Maddington PO wanted $2.50 for that. So went to Kenwick untill those were all gone. 

[jellybirddesigns]

I think the PO sounds dodgy.

There is no reason why you can't use a plain bag and get a discounted label. Next time you go there, ask them why you're not getting ANY discount. It's not making sense.

I've been using plain satchels for about 3 years, so I know that it should work.

[digital*ghost]

If your My Post QR code is scanned before anything else happens, the system will discount automatically (it has to be before they start processing the postage, though, otherwise no discount will apply), I'm not sure if staff can override this or not - I would hope not.

Just be aware own-packaging does not qualify for flat rate pricing. If your items are too big for small satchels, but parcels can weigh over 500g (and definitely if you ever have any that weigh over 1kg), then a larger flat rate satchel from Aus Post will usually be cheaper than your own packaging, since they can weigh up to 5kg for the same price. With own packaging, they will charge you the higher of dead or cubed weight if it's over 1kg (had a box recently that was right on the line - at 50g under 1kg they were going to charge me around $15 for express, after band 4 discounts. At 50g over 1kg it jumped to over $40, I ended up putting it in an extra large satchel for $17). 

[gumleaf_goodies]

I can totally relate to your issue. I sell a variety of items, but generally it is my women's clothing that gets sold in multiples. I used to include a photo among my gallery stating I would charge a single postage cost if the buyer purchased any combo of three shirts, T-shirts or tops, as well as including this in the description. When anyone  bought multiples but paid postage on each (which is what the majority did) I refunded excess postage minus fees. I rarely if ever got acknowledgement of this.

Very very rarely, people who buy multiples request a combined invoice before paying.