Re: Anyone else having issues with Australia Post?...

jodles1987 · ‎23-05-2017

My International orders used to take 8-10 business days but the past month have taken over a month. Some have not even turned up. I have had to refund countless orders.

My items are shipped without tracking internationally for $2.95. If I pay for tracking it goes up to $28.50 which is not doable. I have called Australia Post a number of times but because I don't have tracking they will offer no assistance.

Anyone else notice International postage delays??

*tippy*toes* · ‎23-05-2017

Nope, because I stopped selling internationally because there were too many issues. It's not worth posting without tracking because buyers have cottoned onto being able to claim INR, knowing they will win.

It's not that Aust Post won't help, they can't. If there is no tracking, how are they supposed to know where the item is when you don't?

silence_electronics · ‎23-05-2017

I would absolutely never sell outside of Aus. The costs are crippling for the most basic slow services.

jodles1987 · ‎23-05-2017

I have been selling overseas on etsy Amazon and eBay for years. There is SO much more money to be made selling overseas than within Aus.

I can honestly say that in all the years I have been shipping small items overseas for $2.95 I have never had an issue. It always arrives in 8-10 business days. But just the past month there has been huge delays in international postal transit times. I am thinking there is an issue with an Aus Post sorting centre as some orders are still arriving on time while others have had long delays.

Definitely don't want to stop selling overseas as that is 90% of my business. Might have to look into overseas fulfilment..

jodles1987 · ‎23-05-2017

Also I am not expecting them to track individual orders down, I would just like to know what the issue is and how long until it's resolved so I can continue sending overseas confidently again.

porcelain_dolls_by_me · ‎24-05-2017

Normally overseas mail takes around 7-10 days to be delivered, but Canada is a notable exception and a couple of months is not unusual (for this reason we do not sell to that country)

HOWEVER, AusPost occasionally missort mail and send an item to the wrong destination country. When this happens the receiving country sends the item back to Australia and it starts its journey over again. In such instances delivery will take around 4-5 weeks.

transport-posters · ‎24-05-2017

Yes, international shipping is taking a lot longer than usual. I understand that it goes from AP to the local national carrier for each country, so it may not be AP's fault overall.

I've had some bad experiences with Canada recently. Have had to re-send items for two customers. For the re-send I convinced them to add on tracking and/or signature.

Note that with parcels to the US you can usually lookup the customs declaration number on USPS to see that it was delivered.

starwood2111 · ‎24-05-2017

Yes same here. Nearly all my USA and Canada orders send through April have had 'not received requests' opened ( and of course funds frozen). Some are resolving now but is seems to be taking a whole month for delivery. Luckily we have not had to refund as yet. Australia post tells me if you use economy airmail and pay $5 extra for a signature on delivery, they can track it internally at least. I open missing item requests with Aust post and stay in touch constantly with the customers. Oddly it seems Australia Post can track some economy deliveries and that has helped me in some cases at least. Open the requests with AP then follow up with them after a few days.

jellybirddesigns · ‎24-05-2017

I haven't noticed any major delays in international shipping personally, so fingers crossed.

Overseas sales account for about 40% of my volume, so it's definitely worth it for me. I don't send worldwide though, only a few select countries and in 13 years of international sales, only one item never turned up.

Before I ship anything overseas I always send a message to my buyer to tell them it will take between 10-15 business days, so they already have that higher figure in their heads if there are any delays.

I had a purchase come from Israel a few months ago which took 5 weeks to get to me, so who knows if the holdup was in Israel or here in Australia - hard to tell.

starwood2111 · ‎24-05-2017

Further I don't know if its just a coincidence or not, but it seems always as soon as I received a missing item case my sales slow right down or stop altogther for 1-2 days. I always wonder if there is some link ??

Anyone else having issues with Australia Post? Particularly international shipping..