Australia Post prices are going up again (yes, really)

WRITTEN BY
Angus Kidman
Posted: 20 September 2016

https://www.finder.com.au/australia-post-prices-are-going-up-again-yes-really

As I've pointed out before in this column, Australia Post sucks at delivery. Everyone has a horror story to tell. My colleague Marc recently ordered something online and had it sent to an Australia Post parcel locker, figuring that was less likely to go wrong. The package ended up in Brisbane instead of Sydney.

In this context, news that parcel charges are going up again on 3 October (just in time for Christmas!) are unlikely to have consumers dancing in the virtual aisles. OK, we're not talking massive increases here in most instances. A standard 500g domestic parcel, which previously cost $7.45, is now $7.60. A prepaid Parcel Post satchel of the same size, which is a popular choice for eBay sellers, will go up from $8.25 to $8.50. The Australia Post site has a full list of the pricing changes.

A 25-cent price rise isn't going to cause anyone too much stress, but when it's applied to a product that so many of us already don't find reliable, it's not a good look. And while I appreciate that the shrinking amount of money Australia Post makes from letters makes it harder to deliver a reliable service, as a consumer I'd just like my stuff to show up when it's supposed to.

If you are a price-sensitive online shopper, the best option is to try and find stores that don't include a delivery charge. We keep a constantly-updated list of stores which have free delivery deals, so that's a good place to start. Be sensible about it, of course; if you have to spend $50 in a store you only planned to spend $10 at, paying for the postage may still leave you better off overall. And whatever you do, start shopping early, because you can't assume your parcels will get to you in a timely fashion.

Angus Kidman's Findings column looks at new developments and research that help you save money, make wise decisions and enjoy your life more. It appears Monday through Friday on finder.com.au.



https://www.finder.com.au/australia-posts-parcel-pick-up-charge-plan-is-embarrassing


Australia Post’s parcel pick-up charge plan is embarrassing

Frankly, it's rude to charge for service when your service is so poor.

Australia Post, never likely to top anyone's list of "my favourite Aussie business", kicked another own goal yesterday when it announced plans to start charging people to pick up undelivered parcels.

From August, Australia Post will start charging fees for anyone who has to pick up a parcel from the post office if it has been there more than five days. The fees range from $3 to $9.

Why does this get me riled up so much?

In the early 2000s, I was a freelancer and worked from home. I was also mildly addicted to eBay, so there was a steady stream of parcels being delivered. Or more accurately, there was a steady stream of "we tried to deliver something but you weren't in" cards left in my mailbox, even though I was actually home.

Never once did the lazy drongo responsible for deliveries actually try and ring my doorbell. So I'd have to trek to the local post office, where the staff were equally indifferent and would sometimes tell me to come back on another day because they couldn't find my item. Complaining about this lack of service got me nowhere at the time, but you can bet I'd complain even more loudly if someone tried to charge me for the privilege of picking up a package that wasn't delivered properly in the first place.

Australia Post's future is in parcels. We're so unfussed about letters in these email-centric days that even when the price of delivering letters rose from 70 cents to $1 earlier this year and delivery speeds were slowed, no-one cared much. But get between us and our Amazon parcels and there'll be hell to pay. Australians spent $19.3 billion on online shopping in the last year, according to NAB's Online Retail Sales Index. That's a lot of packages that need to be delivered.

And Australia Post certainly needs the income it lost $381 million last year. It has been experimenting with a range of diversifications, across everything from travel money to insurance. But deliveries are still what it's known for. Making that experience more expensive is not going to help, and the end result is likely to be customers choosing alternative couriers or services whenever they can.

Angus Kidman's Findings column looks at new developments and research that help you save money, make wise decisions and enjoy your life more. It appears Monday through Friday on finder.com.au.