Sending large letters within Aus, from home

[thesoulyearns]

A good portion of things I sell are able to be sent as large letters and I usually just head down to the PO for the items to be stamped and on their way. It's all fairly quick and easy and haven't had any problems yet but it would save a bit of time to be able to stamp them at home.

I have a little weigher and can check the price according to the Aus Post guidelines via eBay's Postage Calculator. Does anyone do this and how is it working out for you? Thanks for any help.

[fred_fred_2004]

I get the 16mm mailing boxes from ebpacking and they all get thrown in the red box, I have enough to take to the counter 🙂

[thesoulyearns]

OK thanks Dave and D*G. 🙂

[australiapoststore]

Hi All,

There are some great tips here, but I did notice an option missing. By all means send your CD's/DVD's/clothes/whatever as large letters if they fall within the dimensions, and having a stock of stamps, a good scale and a letter gauge are essentials, however, did you know that all letters, large or small, sent with a "Postage Paid Australia" stamp, or run through a postage meter get an automatic postage discount of up to 10c a letter. It may only be a few cents, but every little bit helps. 

Postage Meters weigh the letters and imprint them with the correct (reduced) postage and you get a 2.5% postage rebate when you top it up. You can also stick them into a Red Street Posting Box when done as well.

Letters marked "Postage Paid" need to be lodged over the counter with a lodgement form but the discounts are the same.

These discounts are available to all Credit Account holders. You don't need to send a minimum amount of letters or parcels, there's no joining fee and no monthly account keeping fees.

You can read more about these options on our website, or feel free to send me an email and I'll answer any questions you might have. 😄

Alice

[flashback_deals]

Depends on the person sliding the item through the 2cm slot. I have one that if it wont go through easily, she tries to charge me parcel rates - so i come back with it a bit later and get it sent as letter rate

Most times when they check my padded envelopes, they need a bit of a push to get them through and I only still get charged letter rate

[flashback_deals]

Thanks. I've posted a few CDs and DVDs, most of which were able to be sent as a large letter. One DVD had a slip-cover on, so it had to be sent as a parcel but I generally know that a regular-size CD and a DVD with no slip-cover meets the requirements. For other things that might be too big, I'll just take it to the PO. At least it's saving time on some things.

Regarding international post, this one is a bit trickier. I've asked whether a CD could be sent as a large letter internationally and told no. Yet, some sellers are able to and it halves the cost, which could mean more buys. How are they able to do it? Is it legal? I'm happy selling within Aus as it's just easier but some things would be good to sell internationally with a nice and cheap large letter rate.

I regularly send CDs and DVDs to the US and UK and only ever get charged $6.20 as letter rate with the green form filled out. never lost a single one

[thesoulyearns]

Thanks, flashback_deals. It seems that it depends on the post office or the specific person behind the counter. Even the eBay AP calculator does state that large letters can be sent internationally at large letter rates. I wonder why it differs so much between post offices.

Alice, thanks for your comment. A discount is usually always helpful, especially over large quantites of parcels.

[phorum_junkie*]

A lot of POs don't have a clue, the large one in our nearest shopping centre is a case in point, I never go there unless I absolutely have to as for anything other than a straightforward regular parcel or buying stamps they often don't know what to do lol.

My local PO are the best, if they don't know they will jolly soon find out and have never tried to overcharge me or given me wrong advice.

[donna4701]

A lot of my stuff goes via padded envolopes .

My local post office gave me one of their official letter guages with the slots in which makes it easy which i guess saves them having to do it all the time

If you buy in bulk from EB Packaging on ebay here you can get small bubble padded envolopes for around 14c each and larger around 25c ea, which is so much better than aus posts 70c + each for the same thing.

Buy 60c stamps and $3 stamps in bulk so there is no need to have to go to the post office all the time and they can go in the red post boxes .

Basically the max thickness is 20mm to go as large letter mail and apply the following rules :

Up to 125 grams = $1.20 ( 2 x 60c stamps)

126 to 250 grams= $1.80 ( 3 x60c stamps)

251 to 500 grams= $3.00 ( 1 x $3 stamp )

This is the total weight of contents and envolope combined , not the content weight only.

According to the aus post gauge the largest envolope allowable is 260 x 360 x 20 mm.

We have sent items in padded envolopes from sales here and via commercial website as large letter mail , well over 400+ envolopes and havent had one rejected yet sticking to the above rules.

The biggest secret is taping up loose items or taping them down on to thin cardboard or similar inside the envolope so they cant shift around and bunch up on one end and putting it over thickness ( 20mm ) . Remember aus post wont hold the envolope flat and steady , but rather toss it around all over the place. So if you make sure the contents are reasonably secure , there shouldnt be much trouble .

If we find an envolope is tight on the 20mm thickness we hand it over the counter and get aus post to make the call on the cost of it.

[sillysillysheep]

Spot on OP 😉 If you have some envelopes at home along with a bunch of Prepaid stamp books then life becomes a lot easier. There is no need to visit the counter at all and have some numpty try and charge you a parcel price because it will not slide through like butter.

Our padded Envelopes fit through the slot, but only just they are never an easy fit but we have never had one not arrive and have never had received an under price notice sent

As a buyer I have received on many occasions a card in my mailbox alerting me to go and pick up my item, to find a large letter sent via registered mail with $1.20 stamps that did not fit through my guage at all, it was a close fit but didn't really go through.  I have had 11 items sent this way from the same seller over the last 6 weeks and since they have not changed their practices I am assuming they are not getting charge backs.  All in all, preparation is key and only go to the counter if you really really have no other choice.

[2106greencat]

Love the new blue star Soul 🙂