How is everyone dealing with the new Aust Post Pricing?

[jeezyrizzle]

How is everyone approaching these new changes? These price rises are going to hurt alot of people especially if you have been offering free postage.

I know there are some items (less than $15 with free postage) where the margins are pretty tight and I have noticed that they haven't gone up in price as yet.

Also what is the cheapest way to send small items?

[thecatspjs]

I think C&S and registered parcel might get a few more scans than prepaid - based on my own buying experience and checking parcels that I have been waiting for, but not really sure ?:|

[davewil1964]

Mine seem to record -

Manifested,

Lodged,

On board with driver,

Delivered.

So usually nothing between lodgement and when it goes on the delivery manifest.

[dickos-extreme]

I have decided to reduce the number of parcels I send by Aus Post (AP).

I am going to try a courier. from now on. there are times when I will need to use AP but it will be far less. Perhaps only 20% of the time.

The courier will in fact work out cheaper in many cases. To AP's prices before the rise.

I feel AP have badly misjudged the people here, thinking we would all just accept the new prices.

Reading the boards here as well as a lot of press over the last week. I think they have and will continue to lose a lot of business. Many Post Offices are reporting that less parcels are being sent, and many contracts have been canceled. And couriers are reporting a huge increase in inquires. me being one. All be it a very small one.

But time will tell. They will survive. But the CEO erred on this. IMHO.

[digital*ghost]

Most of us, for obvious reasons, are looking at these changes from the perspective of the immediate impact they will have on our own sales, but it's going to go further than that.

There was a lady at my local PO wanting to post a very small knitted baby jumper, "it's not worth it" she said when told it was going to cost $8.25. AP might have their eyes set on the 70% of parcels that are sent by businesses, but what about the 30% who just want to send something to someone? I bet a lot of them are going to reach the same conclusion - it's not worth it.  

It also makes the risk of online purchase a little greater, considering return postage if there's a problem could be over $10 just for a small, light weight item.

99% of my parcel rate items are purchased locally. 75% of the material for my letter rate items is purchased overseas. I'm reducing the parcel rate stock I invest in, that means less money to local businesses, and quite a few charities, too, and more money overseas, more incoming overseas parcels with less parcels being sent by me to make up the loss AP incurs by delivering them. 

No matter which angle I look at these changes from, I can not see the sense in what they're doing, and although there's been some media attention given to the price rises, I think the whole SOD / registered post / compensation issue needs some serious looking at.  >_o

[thedaily]

I have recently had a buyer complain my postage charge of $4 was way too high.

My local post office is a 20 min drive so it actually costs me more than $4 in petrol let alone the packaging and actual postage!

I will just have to see how the feedback goes I suppose from now on.

The 500g satchel which is now $8 something is far too much.

[thecatspjs]

ha...catspjs....well done...me too tonight...salut !!!:-x

cin cin !!  :-x

.... still drinking and mumbling, with occasional raving and ranting too ...

[phorum_junkie*]

velvet_vintage your buyer has every right to complain if you admit to including the cost to get to the PO in your delivery charge. That contravenes ebay policy which states you can add the actual cost of packaging materials and a reasonable amount for the time it takes to select and prepare the parcel for posting. Anything else should be added to the item cost.

I add between 50c and $2 handling depending on the time it takes to actually parcel the item up and print the label, of course my postage would be rather too expensive if I charged for searching high and low for where I put the thing selecting;-)

[lane-ends]

The question is "what will buyers do?"..They will buy less from Aus as its too expensive and buy more from China, which in turn increases the volume of incoming post from China that needs to be subsidized. APs response will be to increase costs to Aus customers, and the cycle continues.