Overseas parcel rate INCREASES

[creativecharm]

Just letting you all know so you can adjust overseas postage rates on your listings before next sale comes through.

I have just been to the Post Office with thin envelope containing a charm 44 grams total. Last week it would have gone at letter rate of $3.25. If going as a Parcel would have been about $8.00.

This morning rates are up. This item is now costing $20.50 to send. You can no longer send anything at "letter" rate overseas if there is an object in it. However even the "parcel" rate has more then doubled in price.

I am sending this one at my expense. It was a $10 item, with $5 postage.

I wonder how many Australian businesses sending overseas will go out of business. It's hard enough competing with Chinese sellers who sell for $1.00 including postage, without this mammoth increase in price

[chameleon54]

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@ozmagz wrote:

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@chameleon54 wrote:

I,ve just done my mailing and two large letters containing written material with card backing sheet, but not correspondence went as normal large letter, regular price. Staff advised that if the envelope contained anything other than paper ( including protective plastic sleeves ) it would be regarded as a parcel. Some poor bloke next to me has a small 200 gram package, sea mail to U.S was $33.00. He wasn't impressed and took it back home.

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You can't even mail a 200gram package with Sea Mail. ie. it's a minimum 2kg, so you've mixed that up.

As mentioned there's many things people previously mailed with letter rate, which was not 'printed matter'. Logistically i can't see AP returning to sender thousands upon thousands of CDs, DVD's, stamps, stuff with a piece of 'plastic' etc.. It'd cost them a small fortune to screen & resend all that on a daily basis. But, we'll see.

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It wasnt me that mixed it up thanks ozmagz, ,as I said in my post,  it was the AP staff member who quoted the figure to the customer.. As I said, they had not recieved any training and basically it was chaos. The senior manager was sitting behind the staff with an information book trying to fathom it all out and the junior staff where reffering questions to him.

[base787]

What a yo-yo event today, trying to send 2 parcels one to the USA and one to NZ, they said i couldn't send them via pack and track, and i needed to send it express , as they didn't have, any internationally prepaid satchel's, i said to them, if you cant offer them to me, then you would need to send it via pack and track lol, in the end i came, home and refunded, the buyers, i need to change all my listing now to Australia only grrr...

[chameleon54]

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@ozmagz wrote:

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@creativecharm wrote:

Not sure if just posting it with stamps on it will work.

If there are objects in "large letters" customs declarations forms needed to be filled out.

I think if there is an object in the letter, without the customs declaration form, it would be spat out.

The "written materials" only is nothing new.

It has always been the official policy. However I have been filling out the customs declations forms for over 15 years with things such as

jewellery, necklace, brooch etc, without a single query. Last year when I started selling overseas again, I checked at the local post office to make sure I could still put items of jewellery in the narrow packages and was told I could.

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Well, you're wasting your own time writing out customs forms for 'printed matter' or 'written correspondence' items. Because these require NO customs dec. I've mailed, literally THOUSANDS of International Letters with Stamps over the last 20 years with NO customs decs.

It sounds to me that you're actually writing on these forms that you're 'breaking the rules' and it is NOT printed matter. So, i can't comprehend how and why you lodge items in this way.

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While it is true that customs declarations are not essential for letters containing documents,  several different PO,s have advised me that having the customs declaration filled out for documents speeds up processing by some international customs agencies. ie. your letters can often be delivered more quickly if the declaration is filled in so not a "waste of time at all"  as you so politely put it.    

[digital*ghost]

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@base787 wrote:

What a yo-yo event today, trying to send 2 parcels one to the USA and one to NZ, they said i couldn't send them via pack and track, and i needed to send it express , as they didn't have, any internationally prepaid satchel's, i said to them, if you cant offer them to me, then you would need to send it via pack and track lol, in the end i came, home and refunded, the buyers, i need to change all my listing now to Australia only grrr...

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Try looking into using Click & Send, I use that for all of the parcels I send internationally, and the postage label is the customs form in one, which you print yourself, then you take the package with the label to the PO for them to process / lodge (you can't pay for international parcels online unless you select courier pick-up). 

I'm actually going to wait for a bit and see if any of the economy parcels return tracking events in the other countries (I know they won't on APs site, but other countries may scan the barcodes and track them). Here's hoping they do, it'll be a bit slower (apparently), but 10+ days is how long all the Pack & Tracks I ever sent took (except one, which was delivered in 3 days). 

[ozmagz]

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@digital*ghost wrote:

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I'm actually going to wait for a bit and see if any of the economy parcels return tracking events in the other countries (I know they won't on APs site, but other countries may scan the barcodes and track them). Here's hoping they do, it'll be a bit slower (apparently), but 10+ days is how long all the Pack & Tracks I ever sent took (except one, which was delivered in 3 days). 

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I'm betting that Economy Air will take the same amount of time as Standard Air (regardless of what AP's website says). Basically Economy is the 'old' Standard Air, Standard Air is the 'old' Pack And Track Air.

I reckon they just called it 'Economy Air' to differentiate. The only way it could be slower would be if they have a 2x Speed service at their Parcel centres, and put all the Economy Air items on ice for a couple days. And i certainly doubt that would happen for the more 'obscure' destinations.

[ozmagz]

ps. i worked in a large AP mail sorting centre approx 20 yrs ago (AP used to offer Economy Air back then), and when sorting we never distinguished between Economy & Standard Air/1st Class.

[base787]

As i am reading the from the AP website...

Use our Standard packaging Send your parcel for a flat rate using a postage-prepaid satchel

( prepaid ) huh am i missing something ?

How are they prepaid when you need to pay for the postage over the counter, also the satchels are just a bag with no zones or anything ???

[digital*ghost]

More than likely,  the website just says 10+ days for economy and 6+ days for standard, which I thought was a bit optimistic anyway (I know it's the minimum time for closer destinations, eg NZ, but either way I can't imagine 4 days will matter too much to those who are used to international transit times). 

[jillywinkle]

If it's not a satchel though postage to US for a 500 gram parcel is now $17. I sent two today in tough bags and both were $17..well, it was Canada actually...but postage is same price to Canada as USA. Large letters overseas are exactly the same as they were...no price change..

[base787]

yes but without tracking