large letter post changes (flexible contents and rigid mailers)

[thedeltons4]

With the introduction of the "flexible items" criteria I'm curious to see what others feel the guideline is on rigid mailers, sounds like they are a no-no but I couldn't determine much from the fill guideline (but that was reading it on my phone and a quick skim) .

I post nearly everything in a 400gms envelope or use the rigid boxes that are only 16mm thick. I'm going to be a bit stuck for customers if I have to move to parcel post rates as most items are $7-10 and the parcel charge virtually doubles it.

From this page: http://auspost.com.au/parcels-mail/domestic-letters.html?ilink=mm-domestic-letters-1

To be considered a letter, your item must:

weigh less than 500g
contain flexible items**
have a rectangular shape
be no larger than a B4 envelope (260mm x 360mm x 20mm)
be no thicker than 20mm
Is your item bigger than this? We would classify this as a 'parcel'.

The ** is stated as:

** Letters should not contain stiff objects such as bottle tops, pens, items enclosed in a hard case, and so on. High-speed letter sorting equipment could damage such objects, or the objects could damage other articles.

[pennyforum14 · Accepted solution]

That's not new, as far as I know it has always been there.  Items posted as large letters in regular paper envelopes go through the sorting machines so they shouldn't contain solid inflexble items, which may be damaged by or cause damage to the machinery.   Items in padded envelopes, bubble mailers and flat boxes such as Auspost CD mailers can still be sent as large letters if they fit the dimensions, but these types of containers do not go through the machines.  Just make sure any items that are rigid are posted in protective packaging (within the dimensions of the large letter rates) and not regular paper envelopes. 

[thedeltons4]

Can you point me to where it says you can use rigid mailers? I've just gone back through my forum posts and can now say I agree the wording isn't new about flexible items because it's the same as it was in 2014. I think the "pen" bit is new.

Certainly the auspost website doesn't help as it just says that if your mailing item is larger than the stated it's classed as a parcel. But it is unclear about if your item is within the stated but not flexible. Heaps of things would fit that criteria.

[thedeltons4]

I've gone back and read the guide and agree, it says nothing about large letters needing to be flexible. Thanks for your help.

[bachy_2]

...So how about parcels...?

I can find precious little on parcel prices and nothing on ebay satchel prices or ebay box prices. I send a ton of parcels (and like everyone else affected) this will be a serious issue for profitability. Looks like cheap imports are about to get cheaper compared to australian sellers.

[pennyforum14]

The new rates only affect letters, not parcels.  They will probably still be subject to the usual 2-3 price rises per year, but the next one is not due until March or April.

[bachy_2]

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@pennyforum14 wrote:

The new rates only affect letters, not parcels.  They will probably still be subject to the usual 2-3 price rises per year, but the next one is not due until March or April.

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Great to hear (for me).

I'll still be hit by things such as dvd's that I send in c5 envelopes (especially if they police the rigid contents policy aggressively) but we'll just have to work with it.

Unfortunate but I know where they're coming from scrambling for money.

Pity it will hit local business more than those sending from places like china. Its already cheaper to send something from china to Australia than to send something within Australia and thats about to get a whole lot worse.

[davewil1964]

You've still got a few weeks to stock up on C5 prepaids at the current rate. $1.90 in singles, $1.80 in 10s, $1.70 in 50s.

[pennyforum14]

I saw a hint the other day Davewill that AP may be propsing to make people add additional postage to prepaid letters after Jan to bring them up to the new rate.  I don't believe it myself, they would need to have a disclaimer on them such as : USE BY date (after which additional postage may apply), in order to justify this, or else a printed stamp rate, and I can't see them doing that as it means reprinting every time there is a price rise.  Someone posted in the forums  though that AP customer service had told them this would be the case.

[cathyjoyjoy]

As far as I know, prepaid envelopes must show postage at the current rate, so when the postage rate rises you need to add additional stamps.