I bought a present for someone in the US (got a bargain) and now that I am getting ready to send it, I see that it will cost at least $30 even though it's less than a kilo. That is not even an expedited or signature service.
WTF!
No wonder Oz is so uncompetitive and people are ordering from overseas.
Does anyone know any other international delivery service that will be cheaper?
I am thinking I'll just buy a gift from some US online shop and have it delivered. It won't cost much more.
I saw the prepaid registered post ones. They are $35. I will check monday to see what else there is.
Thanks
Hahahahahahahahaha
Australia one of the most competitive countries - that is absolutely laughable.
The only reason we're performing above the average performance levels of first-world countries right now is due to our resources boom (and potentially in the future an agribusiness boom) - ie the fact that we have stuff underground that other countries want to buy.
Our minimum wage and high labour costs have made us incredibly uncompetitive in the entire manufacturing sector.
We try to differentiate ourselves from third world countries by providing high quality services and thereby justifying higher charges in relation to service industries. Eg you wouldn't trust a cheap $20 lawyer or management consultant in a third world country to tell you how to run your business - you would much rather pay a more for reliable, trustworthy service here.
However, for services such as postage, where companies cannot differentiate themselves easily simply by providing quality 'service' - there shouldn't be such a giant differential in pricing! Further, it might have been acceptable if Australia Post provided consistently reliable service. However, judging from the posts in this thread…that clearly doesn't look like the case.
Just my $0.02
they will charge you an extra $9 for packages to US for security or whatever it is for…
I sold a bunch of 80's and early 90's skating stuff to the US just a few days after that
"security" cost came in. The items weren't big money makers and I had already gotten quotes from Auspost a couple of weeks previously. So when the items finished and the buyers had paid I took them to the PO and then was told the cost with the additional surcharge. naturally I was not going to post the items and lose $9 from the sale. I spoke to the sellers and explained the new US security surcharge and the added cost and they all bailed. fair enough.
The $9 security charge was dropped in early November
I wonder how much cash they scored from that rort?
Wasn't it your responsibility to have known the correct shipping costs in the first place? A successful ebay bid is a contract. If I were you I'd like to think that I'd have taken the small loss.
Yeah Auspost is a rip off.
It'll be just like Telstra where the government overcharges people for everything and takes complete control but people don't mind so much because the money is going to the government anyway it's just a form of tax really. Then they sell it off with all it's unbound powers to a private company that rapes everyone. I hate the 3 years election cycle, we need to be like Japan (10 years) where politicians are accountable because they are in office to see the results when they come round.
Huh? Post isn't directly operated by the government, the sole share holder is the federal government but they don't operate it.
I assume you're joking. That's a distinction without a difference.
Nope, post is a GBE, not a public utility. Very very different.
You could go the 'sea mail' route and save 25%…if you want the parcel to get there in three months.
you would be better off posting it in your garbage bin
People who use aust post to send stuff are charged ridiculous pricing to subsidies all the cheap imports shipping. How else does DX post a 99c item to Australia for free. That's why we buy everything overseas :)
Aust Post subsidies foreign post ? You must be joking.
no but auspost delivers post without charge the the receiver. they get paid a fixed amount and they lose money delivering goods to you because of the high volume of imports. So they have to recover that amount by increasing postage for outgoing mail
Its more complicated that that but in a nutshell, Celentt is correct. There was a newspaper article which explained in detail the international deal Auspost signed with Royal Mail Service of UK, and it explained why exporting is much more expensive than importing.
We are the laughing stock of the world, in so many ways. How is it that products made in Aust are sold cheaper overseas, even with the high Aussie dollar? Then there are all the foreigh "fresh" foodstuffs that sell cheaper here than our own because their home countries offer protectionist policies and allow them to "dump" their excess elsewhere in the world. Aussie post is just one sign of a country "gone mad". Thanks for explaining how the mailing cost works since its never made any sense. Takes away all the initiative for Aussie business.
have you seen our wages compared to these other countries? you should be thankful you live here.
But out cost of living is also higher, good example is this thread where we are paying $30 to post something to the US. Obviously Australians do have a high standard of living in general, but we definitely pay for it.
Basically, AusPost is part of the Universal Postal Union and gets paid a fixed amount of money regardless of how many International parcels they deliver in Australia.
Here's the full story:
http://www.smh.com.au/business/internet-shopping-boom-takes-…
Nice link. Ironsword
I Like the comment here
The general manager of Australia Post, Alex Twomey, said the mail service was booking good profits on all other packages, especially those mailed within Australia between local shoppers and online retailers also based in Australia.
Good profits etc. Problem now being that the higher the cost here the more people turn to overseas suppliers and the issue gets worse.
Hopefully the two ranges of goods don't overlap or the local retailers are in the wrong business.
It was less than a year ago I think thou, that the USA postal system was gonna go bust.
Etwu: no im not joking. I'll thank Celentt for the summary.
Im sure they put the 99cent item in a big box with hundreds of other 99cents item. Atleast the international stage of the journey is cheap. Maybe only 30 cents a piece. And 45Cents? for bulk letters.
So that still give 25cents for the item and labor cost.
How much is a piece of wire with plastic wrapping. 10cents?
Nope, they all come through individually. What is the issue is that they can take up so much air can space and being they can be fairly densely packed can add up to a lot of weight.
I'm pretty sure that the shipper labels them using computer printed labels (in fact sometimes you can see the invoice it was part of inside the packet), stamps them with a franking machine and presents it at the HK end by the milk crate load. Very little work per item. On this side Auspost has to route them and postie has to deliver each individually.
Something like that, I haven't seen the HK lodgement side, but have seen how they arrive at Mascot then transferred to the gateway facility, and they come via blue air pudding bags packed into an aircan
They are all loose within the bags, they are then dumped onto conveyors, x-rayed and sent through the normal system, then to Chullora for sorting and delivery.
I am just going to buy a differnt gift from Amazon.com and have them deliver it for free.
FFS
Thanks everyone.
Right decision. Just buy the gift in the US. No need to buy in Australia unless you need to ship to Australia.
This should have been option A.
Yeah, well, I found a "bargain" and it was very cute.
good idea, I buy all my gifts in the UK and have them sent out locally, mostly for free. No way I'm going to buy anything in Australia and post it.
I also purchase lots of stuff from UK stores, like M&S, Next etc as they often post to Aus for free and I get it within a week. Even if I have to pay postage for Ebay stuff, it's usually cheap from the UK and quick.
Even parcels within Australia have gone through the roof. A visiting friend from Tasmania asked us to post 4 fleecy tops home so she could avoid paying for baggage. We shrank them down in a spacebag, then popped it in a satchel.
Baggage charge saved by her for little over 2kg $17
Cost to post - spacebag $10, Satchel $2.70, Aust Post regular parcel rate $27.40 ….. Bargain! (It was for her anyway, as she'd given us $10 to cover the postage)
i sold an ultimate loot edition of borderlands 2 to someone on ebay in darwin, I got charged $53 yikes
If you have Daiso store near you, you could have got that spacebag for $2.60 (or even 100 Yen in Japan).
Australia Post no longer charge the $9 for packages to US for security or whatever it is for…
If you send a few parcels internationally, take a look at Skippy Post. They offer an 'economy airmail' service which is much cheaper, but a bit slower than Airmail. For example, a 900g parcel to the US would cost $18.70 plus an $8 'shipment fee', but that $8 will cover up to 32 parcels or 20kg sent in one shipment.
You have to sign up with them - http://www.skippypost.com.au
We've been using them for 6 years and have been very happy with their service.
But back to voteoften's problem, I think you've done the best thing buying within the same country and having it sent for free. That gives you more $$ to spend on the gift rather than on postage.
We have family in the us and UK and never post a thing, it's way too expensive and we'd rather put that money towards a gift for them from a local seller.
what's worse is that it can be cheaper to post something from the US to my neighbour than it would be for me to do it through Aus post. The loss of the sub 250g package pricing means it's a total rip off to send something thicker than 2cm but lightweight…
Yeah Australia Post is on the least effective Postal Service anywhere in the world. I managed to send a parcel from Germany to Sydney weighting 3kg at around $15. Sending 3kg from Melbourne to Sydney however cost me $27. Logic anyone? As if labour costs is cheaper in Germany as a staff at AusPost told me it is due to high costs in Australia. They are really killing small business and not allowing Aussie firms from being able to access international markets effectively. And knowing this high price point all the couriers are hence also premium in Australia comparatively. You are better of ordering from foreign companies and having it delivered from there. Not very patriotic but it is what it is.
Australia Post doesn't make any money on delivering the parcels that get sent FROM overseas because they have no say in how much they get for them. They probably get paid by the tonne of parcels, but they get paid the same regardless of whether it gets delivered to Sydney or Kalgoorlie.
Australia ________ is one of the least effective _______ services in the world.
fill in the blanks!
i find that local couriers are cheaper depending on weight the austpost… just hit google
I can send a standard Chep pallet from knoxfeild to western suburbs of melb for $20 via a courier.. And a 1kg registered parcel is around the same.
I hate Australia Post. How is it you can order something off eBay and get it sent from China to your door for $2.00 which includes Postage + Your item. Your item is dropped off by Australia post but it costs 60c to send a letter?
It's a joke. And don't even start me about customer service and even trying to open a Business Account with Australia Post.
They want nothing to do with you unless your spending 100K+
what about when you receive something sent by registered post and they can't even be bothered knocking at the door? They just fill out a card and are off on their merry way. :P
Sometimes they don't even leave parcels at your front door - it's just lying out in the middle of your lawn and when you get home it's just finished raining and your entire package is drenched and destroyed.
EDIT: I'm talking about both couriers and Auspost - this has happened to me with both
My mum caught the post guy red handed while she looked from our apartment balcony. He came, dropped the cards to mail boxes and left without taking a single parcel out of the van (and the van was just 2 metre parked in front of the door).
So I have just lodged an official complain about that for her. Would encourage you guys to do the same.
Hope no more heavy carrying trip from the post which torturing her lower back.
No Use, I have written complaints and tried my best possible,
I have been told apparently the post guy cannot wait for people to open the door after ringing the bell etc etc, same like the water / electricity meter readers.
If you are right in front they may hand over to you , else nearest post office.
In the past 5 years I have never got a parcel delivered to me directly by a postie / Aus post parcel guy. Always to the nearest post office. It sucks
Depends heavily on the postie, I have lived in a regional part of Brisbane 40mins from the CBD, and have been ordering things online for the past 10 years. We have had good and bad, like $4000 laser printers left outside the gate (200m Driveway) - clearly bad.
But currently we have an awesome one who unlatches the gate and takes right up the driveway to the house, or tries to fit what she can in the letterbox (smaller packages etc). So its just more a sign of people and their nature than "Aus Post Policy"
Probably the fact that you are regional helps. I suspect the city posties are given impossible delivery targets by management so they resort to carding. Also a regional customer would have to drive further to the PO, and be more angry.
Yeah maybe, I have done my fair share of driving to the post office - the last 2 years were pretty bad in fact - its a good 15 min drive, plus parking, long wait in queue, atrocious opening hours all don't help when you work a 10 hour day. So I vented my anger on several occasions, seemed to make no difference.
But as discussed lower in the post the person who is delivering to us is a contractor - and I imagine the same for CBD areas because you cant fit many parcels on a postie bike, These are people who tendered a price for a service, so its up to him/her if they card, or drop off, in some cases I guess it saves them taking it back to the post office, and writing a card which also saves time and money.
Although I think as with anything there would be scammers out there who would just write the card before even trying to deliver, I mean we had one guy steal all our Christmas cards one year and random things like PSP batteries out of hong kong, we had no idea until we got a letter 6 months later saying that mail had been compromised with copies of torn envelopes as evidence, we just assumed that nobody liked us that year!!
It's the opposite, if you are classed as a RMB (rural mailbox) contractors card everything automatically due to a different rule set.
Yeah they've been caught doing that by lots of people. There was a sarky comment about this in the SMH Column 8 sometime ago, wish I could find it.
I found out recently that Startrack is a subsidiary of Auspost so they also do the lazy thing and take it to the PO. In my case I didn't even get the card. I got the second reminder a few days later. Actually I would have preferred them to bounce the parcel to the sender right away, Bigpond Online Shop, but that's another long whinge.
I find Australian Air Express to be the worst culprit of this. Theyve done this to me countless times, and I've even caught one of them walking up my porch with the consignment letter in his hand ready to put it down.
I had that so often, even ended up chasing them down the road one day because I saw them and they didn't ring the bell, just left the card. Now put a big sign up asking them to ring the bell as the missus is often in. Seems to have improved a bit. I guess in order for the delivery guy to meet his targets, it's quicker to fill in a card and drop it in the post box than ring the bell and wait.
I received a card once where the writing was illegible. I had to ring up two post offices (there are three in my area) to find out where my package was.
Follow up from my rant above, I was expecting another registered item and was listening out for the postman. Heard them today, checked my box and there was another card!!! She was quite a number of houses down the street, but fortunately she turned back to deliver mail to the houses on the other side of the street.
Turns out, her reason for not coming to the door is because they can't leave their bikes. I live in a two storey block of units and on the ground floor… So she was quite sheepish when I told her that. Maybe she'll bring my stuff next time… Maybe :-P
Are you kidding me? Auspost barely makes money off those deliveries (if at all) and then has to subsidise the cost of delivery of those items with higher shipping costs. Be thankful that they even deliver those $2 from China items at all. They would certainly prefer not to.
It cost me $42 to send a pair of jeans to the US registered post.. It weighed around 600g.
Anyone know alternatives to Auspost? Like UPS and all that?
Personally, I'm just going to go with Amazon.com and have them deliver it, but I suppose there are times when you absolutely must post something form Oz.
I sent something that weighed 250g… cost $10.50
Now you realise how Aussie businesses are being screwed.
Aust post delivers that same weight parcels posted from China/USA here, and vendors in those countries pay so much less for the parcel to be delivered here, than a vendor in Australia pays to have a parcel delivered here let alone have it shipped overseas
And who is it that delivers both parcels here.
So much for supporting Aussie business
And guess who owns Australia Post. Our government. A national treasure, but only for treasury.
And we are lead to believe by the govt, that with the NBN there will be unlimited world wide opportunities for us to get into ecommerce.
Yep, except when the world gets to the shipping cost line….
Sorry, and people want government ownership of utilities…
Most first world countries have expensive outgoing postage, it reflects labour costs. Just have a look at the tariffs of European countries. Less developed countries have the advantage here. Unfortunately it's asymmetrical because they have an obligation to deliver incoming parcels but can only recover cost on outgoing. In any case this sector is contestable so if you find a cheaper courier, go for it. Or take advantage of Internet commerce to buy and send at the destination.
Had to send a 8" speaker back to the States for repair recently. I hear the lady serving me tell me the price: $17.90, so I hand her a $20 note.
Her: "No Sir, $79.00".
Me: "Wait, what?!". "No thanks, that's insane."
That was a touch over 3kg.
Pretty much the same reason why buyers of Chinese tablets may not find it worthwhile to return DOA orders. That's one of the risks you run. Also the issue with posting things containing Li batteries.
For a $5 item you just write it off, or if the seller is nice, they accept your word that it was DOA.
this is a shopping forum, there are always going to be less unfortunate people than us, but that doesnt change the gripe at hand
Happened to me once, Karmaloop expensive brand got my sizing wrong and they asked me to return it. Was too costly so I was compensated with a huge discount for next item.
sometimes i wonder how r things so cheap for hong kong & china sellers.. they sell items for $1 with free shipping :)
anyone has any idea?
Think about it, it's far cheaper to move parcels from Kowloon to Chek Lap Kok, than it is to move them from Mascot to Wagga Wagga. It's no accident that Singapore is another favourite shipping source.
read some earlier replies to get ur answer.
Because as mentioned before, WE are effectively subsidizing China Post. Due to reciprocal agreements that are in place all over the world, AusPost takes responsibility of delivering the mail once it lands in this country.
Because the flow of mail packages from China is pretty much one way, AusPost is stuck with the massive costs of delivering all these packages that arrive in this country, and not getting a cent for it.
Something has to give, and the costs have to be recouped somewhere….
The only thing wrong with using this argument.
Australia post can set the rates it charges foreign postal services for products delivered to Australia. Postal rates from OS countries vary according to country it is shipped to, so why the difference. Its because of different rates negotiated.
Also if your argument was true, then since Aust post only has to dump the parcel in the US, and US post has to do the rest of the delivery, then why is it +$30 a kilo.
Simply put Austpost, just says its a distance thing and charges more for the distance, and subsidises the executive/staff training courses….
subsidises the executive/staff training courses….
What training ? certainly not customer service ! being rude and obnoxious maybe
However it is also worth saying that you are comparing oranges and apples. The $1 items which have free shipping come in letters, e.g. USB sticks, SD card readers, audio cables. The OP wrote of a 1kg parcel.
For a fair argument you should compare with something that's 1kg shipped from HK, e.g. an Android tablet. Certainly it is cheaper for the HK shipper, but not a fraction of $1. The shipping will have been built into the price. The HK shipper has the advantage of not just cheaper wages, being closer to the airport, but also sending in bulk, and streamlined procedures.
I mean, you have to admire the ingenuity of merchants like Meritline. They have an office in the US to take orders but they ship from HK, Singapore or China to take advantage of the postal rates. All enabled by the Internet.
How about letters? Auspost have prepaid airmail envelopes for $2.35 each. There's a small discount for 5+ but is there any cheaper alternatives?
anybody know of cheap shipping to UAE from here?
Since the comments have turned into an auspost bashing session I thought I'd join in with a few annoyances of my own…
I have had enormous trouble with LOST packages at auspost in Woden, ACT.
They have lost 3 packages in last 3 months - about 30% of the items I sent. I send everything registered now, at even higher cost.
Not sure what's going on, and I didn't have this problem at a different outlet. Makes me suspicious of the staff who work there.
Another time I was online tracking a parcel I was receiving via the auspost e-parcel web site. As I watched, the status changed to 'Attempted Delivery' while I was at home, but no one came to the door. This was at 8am on the day of delivery.
Fifteen minutes later the status changed to 'Awaiting collection at Outlet'. There wasn't even a card left in the letterbox!
I drove to the outlet and I could see a big pile of packages on a shelf.
I reckon the driver hadn't even bothered putting the items in his truck! Just scanned them and then took off fishing.
AUSPOST IS LIKE A GODDAMN LOTTERY! DIE AUSTRALIA POST, DIE! We need Richard Branson to come and fix this shit up.
For every parcel you don't receive, lodge an Australia Post Customer Service complaint.
If you still don't get any positive outcome, go to the Postal Industry Ombudsman
Once I ordered stuff from US and parcel tracking says parcel on-board with driver, so I was expecting delivery same day or next. Didn't arrive till 2 days later. Shot a complaint on their site and all I got was some standard crap reply, no explanation nor apology, just take-it-or-leave it attititude. If really need to send parcels, better off using private couriers? Shame AP SHAME
No point lodging a comlaint, as I have done that and they wait a few weeks and send you those silly standard replies telling you they couldn't retrieve your package. With my issue - I received a card, went to the post office stated on the card and it was not there (and had a huge argument with them because they claimed I have taken it, this is a whole new rant altogether).
I lodged a complaint, they claim they will try to track it down. Meanwhile a week later, I got a card to collect it at another post office (assume that the postman left it at the wrong post office). But because I was overseas already at that time, I couldn't collect and had to have it sent back to UK.
Three weeks later, I got a letter telling me they couldn't help locate my package and the case is now closed. You'd think that the most basic thing they'd do is to call the next post office closest to me. But now I know to do that myself, because lodging a complaint is a futile attempt.
I rang customer service - if its not registered post the only outcome of your call is a 'statistic'. Which I presume is written down on toilet paper.
I tried this once after nearly 12 months of all my mail returned to sender, I had a PO box. It ws a complete dead end Aust Post just kept saying they had fixed and did nothing . Cost me a fortune in late payment fines, tracking lost super etc. very nearly sent me postal.
i'm gathering from the posts here that people don't like Aus-Post very much! Also I saw they sell 2TB Hard Drives at prices that you know are meant to give them a greater profit margin. Don't know why anyone would bother buying things from the Auspost store.
The delivery 'business' in Australia is a monopoly and there's hardly anyone who can challenge them. I even witness an Aus Post semi-trailer had an accident running a red light and hitting the back of a Toyota Camry!
Let's bring in some figures for comparison. Let's try shipping 1kg (2.2lbs) from the US to Australia. So we end up at this page:
http://ircalc.usps.com/MailServices.aspx?country=10013&m=6&p…
Now if it fits into a small box, then it's cheaper, $16.95 for Priority Mail up to 4 lbs. If it requires a medium box, then it's $47.95 up to 20 lbs. First class mail will cost $19.45, but no idea what the limits are, if it varies by weight, or how slow the service is.
To do a full comparison you'd have to graph the price for various weights for Auspost and USPS. That's too much work for me so I'm bowing out. The only thing I'll venture to say is, if you want cheap postage, don't live in a first world country.
$16.95 US for 4 pound sounds cheap to me. Do you mean the US is no longer 1st world? mmmm I don't know if I'd argue with you. I was last there 16 years ago. It was obviously on the decline then.
The ambiguity is deliberate. :)
Who's a clever possum?
I guess its all to do with how much the local postal service gets from each package that comes from overseas. As USA is still quite expensive & you can get $0.99 items delivered free from China to USA I presume this means that all postal services charge a different amount to the originating postal service based upon the country of origin. Perhaps it also is related to volume (which would explain China getting a big discount).
Any thoughts on getting flowers delivered to someone in the UK?
(Yes, I know this is sort of unrelated as you would never ship flowers from here)
The obvious answer is Interflora, but wondered if any else has "been there, done that" & would have some cheaper alternatives before I start searching.
Find a "local" florist, ie google florist in the suburb you want the flowers delivered and order from them… shouldn't be a problem.
M&S flowers are excellent.
Yes, it's getting costly to buy presents here & send overseas, better to shop online and get local delivery (usually free). AP now also charges a fee for certifying a person's ID, this was f.o.c. in the past! I avoid AP as far as I can.
I think my post office box costs about $300 a year to rent. I HAVE to rent it because delivery to the house is so shit. I constantly get mail for people who live streets away. If I were to have my mail delivered here, I know my mail would end up elsewhere.
Even still, about once a fortnight, I get stuff for other people's boxes and I know they are stuffing up and putting my mail elsewhere. The people who run it allow their small kids to put the mail in the boxes over school holidays and it gives me the absolute shits because there are always so many errors during school holidays. Who can tell if EVERYONE who gets your mail does the right thing?
No a standard po box is 87 a year to rent, so get your facts straight. And the reason why from the DC>home is shit is because they are contractors who go on a tender process, a lot of them are paid <1 dollar per delivery. Kind of makes it hard to put effort in doesn't it.
Use prepaid satchels its about $5-10 less