New postage costs system

[pnc75]

Hi all,

Under the new system do they still cube parcels over 1kg if you're using your own packaging? I didn't think they did, but am getting mixed messages from their website. TIA.

[dazzledayz]

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@eol-products wrote:

Ebay have adopted the mypost discount. So over the counter you get charged full rate, use ebay and you get a discount depending on where it goes.

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Well that's wrong.

A small satch from Brisbane to an address 6km out from Gladstone city centre is $8.95 as either flat rate or own packaging.

I gather Gladstone is not considered either Other City or Rural.

(nowhere does AP let us know which cities they considered major)

eBay are getting max AP discount for the label though so I'm feeling rather violated right now!

[eol-products]

I have rural as a few suburbs away but across the country as next city. Their rural is different then google maps.

When I send a parcel to same city it goes to Sydney then returns the next day.If I send a parcel to Sydney it is dearer but only has to go oneway. 

There is logic to their pricing it just doesnt't make sense.

[11dustyattic]

*tippy*toes*

I haven't read every reply but many people commenting here are incorrect. On that note, there is no weight limit or at least up to 5 kg can be put in any of the 4 satchel sizes. So if you can fit 5 kg of stuff into a small satchel, you can do so. So disregard weight unless over 5 kg. 

Regarding cubing, if anyone is being cubed under 5 kg, they are being ripped off. Nothing under 5 kg should be cubed unless it's a really large or obscure shape, they reserve the right to cube, but shouldn't be for normal packages. Over 5 kg, location makes a difference. Major city cbd's are cheaper to post to, and the old rule of weight vs cubing whichever the greater, will apply

[11dustyattic]

With regard to what is written on the AP website, their calculator has always been out anyway. Embarrassing when you use it to quote buyers postage, then it comes out 4 or 5 dollars (almost $10 on one occasion)  cheaper over the counter. I can't stress enough for people to scour your city looking for a good/honest PO. It's worth the time when you find a good one

[11dustyattic]

In reply to the Australia Post comment, re cubing, that's not what my PO told me. I think I'll keep them 😎

[oz-e-seller]

Gladstone 4680 is classed as rural. The postcode chart is on the AP site.

https://auspost.com.au/content/dam/auspost_corp/media/documents/mypost-business-domestic-postcode-gu...

[dazzledayz]

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@oz-e-seller wrote:
Gladstone 4680 is classed as rural. The postcode chart is on the AP site.

https://auspost.com.au/content/dam/auspost_corp/media/documents/mypost-business-domestic-postcode-gu...

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That's a really ersatz list; those zones don't even line up with AP's own zone distinctions for parcel post charging rates.

The Qld "Sunshine Coast" codes are actually between Maryborough and Bundaberg that the ATO says are rural (as do I).

See table 3 of this guide for comparison:

AP parcel guide 

This is the current definitive guide for parcel post charge rates published 30/9/19.

It looks like MyPost Business is cherry picking the hell out of AP's own rate card.

[eol-products]

It's quite bad how they determine areas. 

Belmont near Newcastle is shown as rural. 2 suburbs away at Bennetts Green is major city.

But Dooralong on the Central Coast is not classed as rural, go figure.

[dazzledayz]

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@eol-products wrote:

It's quite bad how they determine areas. 

Belmont near Newcastle is shown as rural. 2 suburbs away at Bennetts Green is major city.

But Dooralong on the Central Coast is not classed as rural, go figure.

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It's all about what generates the most profit.

Once upon a time we had a PMG that ran as a public service at cost+development investment.

Now we have Australia Post which, although wholly owned by the Aus Govt, is run as a profit making corporate entity.

(and paying its executives accordingly)

You would  be well advised to view AP as a seperate arm of the Tax Dept.

Any profit they realise goes straight into consolidated revenue.

The federal govt is effectively imposing an additional tax on business, over and above GST, which is much higher for small operators.

We should all take this up with our federal MP's.

I don't know who we could protest to about eBay's failure to pass on any of their AP bulk rate discounting.

That's just an outright undeclared fee hike.

[5kazam]

I've got my hand up to say I didn't get it quite right on the flat rate postage. So apologies for inadvertently stating incorrect information.

In the first few of weeks of the new rates, yes my PO was going by the 4 tier system of flat rate post - as in they were calculating by WEIGHT ONLY.  (So I thought I was right with what I said in my posts!)

But yesterday and today I found out that flat rate post is calculated by SIZE and WEIGHT (so cubing as quite a few have said).

I sold an item that is to go from Melbourne to Melbourne.  eBay had the post cost at $18.50, which I messaged the buyer didn't seem right and to not pay until I checked it out.  He then said maybe just get post cost to Canberra where it was ultimately going, and it's $18.50.  

Which was when the penny dropped!!  Because the SIZE of the parcel is 35x35x15 (regardless of its 1.8kg weight) took it into the cubed size of 4-5kg at $18.50.  

What gets to me that on say September 29, I could have sent that same parcel Melb/Melb for $11.30 max.  Now it costs an extra $7.20.  I have a feeling the courier companies are going to be doing a lot of extra business.

So apologies again.  At least I've got a handle on it all now, and I hope my explanation above is clear enough to help anyone else who is still confused about how the new system works.  

And no thanks to Aust Post for their very misleading Domestic Regular parcel charges tables.  Even their parcel sizes (LHS of Table 1) - S, M, L, XL - how long is a piece of string?