The Folks at Choice Magazine are side lining Australia Post too.



 

http://www.choice.com.au/reviews-and-tests/money/shopping-and-legal/shopping/best-international-postal-service.aspx

 

01.Posting parcels overseas

 

Sending parcels overseas is expensive. If you've ever packaged up presents to send to loved ones abroad, you've probably had a bit of a shock when told the price at the post office. But with the boom in online shopping, Australia Post now competes with several other parcel providers. So, are there viable alternatives to Australia Post for international parcels?
To find out, we sent some Tim Tams to an expat in the United States through five different postal providers:
We also checked prices for a range of locations and parcel weights.

What we found:

  • For lightweight packages (up to 5kg), Australia Post was generally the cheapest (and the most straightforward) but SkippyPost had some slightly cheaper rates on certain routes.
  • For heavier packages (over 5kg), there were cheaper deals with alternative postal providers such as couriers or parcel brokers.
  • If booking through an online provider, you'll need to know the weight and dimensions of the package and have access to a printer.
  • Parcel pick-ups can be convenient if you can't get to a post office during opening hours, but they also lock you into waiting around until it's picked up.
  • Redelivery costs can increase the cost of the parcel if the recipient isn't home. Some of the alternative postal providers charge for redelivery.

 Australia Post SkippyPost* Pack & Send Interparcel Ship2Anywhere
500g (21x28x5cm)
United States $14.10 $20.02 $46.02 $49.04 $42.48
United Kingdom $18.20 $23.83 $46.07 $49.04 $56.66
Hong Kong $12.25 $19.77 $41.00 $34.47 $66.28
New Zealand $10.55 $16.42 $34.68 $35.48 $39.15
1kg (22x16x8cm)
United States $29.70 $29.78 $46.02 $49.04 $42.48
United Kingdom $39.10 $36.31 $56.10 $49.04 $56.66
Hong Kong $25.30 $29.42 $52.97 $34.47 $66.28
New Zealand $21.15 $20.43 $42.22 $35.48 $39.15
5kg (31x22x10cm)
United States $104.00 $106.49 $109.21 $107.94 $97.26
United Kingdom $135.30 $106.49 $128.04 $107.94 $120.34
Hong Kong $81.40 $69.95 $107.29 $55.71 $117.92
New Zealand $67.25 $35.33 $80.79 $67.86 $72.22
20kg (43x30x30cm)
United States $339.50 $329.69 $179.38 $172.34 $161.23
United Kingdom $432.30 $329.69 $231.46 $172.34 $197.27
Hong Kong $249.40 $218.61 $200.81 $143.46 $186.44
New Zealand $208.45 $82.45 $139.70 $110.96 $118.24

*Prices include $9 shipment fee

Australia Post

As the national postal provider, Australia Post has a range of post offices in cities and regional areas. Unlike letter prices, parcel prices aren't regulated and are subject to a competitive environment. But the parcels division isn't doing too badly, making a $355m profit (before tax) in 2012/13, enough to subsidise its flailing letters business.
  • Cost For parcels up to 1kg Australia Post is generally the cheapest, but if your parcel is 5kg or more it pays to look around. Prices are determined based on weight.
  • Lodgement experience Straightforward, but you need access to a post office. International parcels must be lodged at the post office and a customs declaration filled out.
  • Days taken to arrive 12–13 days (including two weekends).
  • Deliveries are dealt with by the national postal service in the destination country.
  • Cover for loss and damage isn't included unless it's registered, but you can generally purchase extra cover.

SkippyPost

SkippyPost positions itself as a bulk economy airmail service, sending mail to 237 countries around the world. It aggregates mail to tap into a range of deals with mail services like Singapore Post and New Zealand Post.
As SkippyPost doesn't market itself to one-off customers, it charges a $9 shipment fee on top of the postage price (which can include up to 32 parcels or a total limit of 20kg) to encourage bulk shipments.
  • Cost If you're sending a few parcels at once and speed isn't your need, it's a cost-effective way to send international mail. And if you're only sending one parcel, we still found it significantly cheaper for heavier packages (5kg and up) to New Zealand. Prices are determined based on weight, although large parcels use volumetric weight.
  • Lodgement experience Relatively straightforward but the process has a few steps. Parcels are posted in a post box or at a post office, after completing the lodgement online. For the online part, you need to register for an account, pay for your shipment and print off the labels, including a customs declaration. The parcel is then sent to SkippyPost via Australia Post using a reply paid address. You'll need to double-wrap the package – once for the international leg with shipping labels attached, and then again for the domestic leg with the shipping manifest included and reply paid labels on the outside.
  • Days taken to arrive 15–16 days (including two weekends).
  • Deliveries are generally dealt with by the national postal service in the destination country.
  • Cover for loss and damage isn't included, but a loss-cover warranty for loss or damage up to a value of $500 can be purchased on items which have SkippyTracker. It doesn't include the reply-paid leg so you'd need to purchase extra cover through Australia Post.

Pack & Send

Pack & Send is a global courier offering international one-off shipments for customers.
  • Cost For heavier packages it's cheaper than Australia Post but we didn't find it the cheapest. Prices are charged based on whichever is greater out of weight or volume.
  • Lodgement experience Parcels are lodged online and labels and customs forms printed at home before being picked up (by DHL in our test). For certain items you may need to drop it off at a service centre (limited outside city centres). Bookings need to be made the day before collection. A specific time slot can't be selected which means you'll need to be around the whole day (9.00am–5.00pm). Also beware of extra charges: booking alteration charge ($20), incorrect weight charge ($10), futile booking charge ($20), and waiting time for driver after 10 minutes ($100 an hour charged in five minute increments).
  • Days taken to arrive 4–5 days (including Saturday-Sunday).
  • Deliveries To the door. Beware the $15 redelivery charge if the recipient isn't there to collect the parcel.
  • Cover for loss and damage isn't included but a loss and damage protection warranty can be purchased.

Interparcel

Many of the big couriers don't provide services to one-off customers. Interparcel works to fill that gap, operating as a parcel broker between individuals and courier companies such as UPS, TNT and FedEx.
  • Cost For heavier parcels (5kg and up) there are savings to be made, especially to the UK and Hong Kong.
  • Lodgement Experience Parcels are lodged online and labels and customs forms printed at home before being picked up (by TNT in our test). Same-day bookings can be made with collections until 5.30pm, but you need to leave a two-hour collection window. We booked this service around 2.30pm and it was picked up by around 4.00pm. Also beware of extra charges: booking alteration ($10), incorrect weight ($10 +GST), and futile booking ($10).
  • Days to arrive 4–5 days (including Saturday–Sunday).
  • Deliveries To the door, but if the recipient is not available to collect the goods, there may be a redelivery fee, depending on the provider.
  • Cover for loss and damage is included with cover up to $100 in value and you can purchase extra if you need it.

Ship2Anywhere

Ship2Anywhere has partnered with DHL Express to enable customers to make one-off shipments with them.
  • Cost For heavier parcels (5kg and up) to the US we found it to be the cheapest. Prices are charged based on weight or volumetric weight, whichever is greater.
  • Lodgement experience Parcels are lodged online with labels and customs forms printed at home before being picked up (by DHL in our test). Same-day booking can be made up until 2.00pm (a four-hour collection window is needed); anything after that is automatically carried over to the next day. However, despite booking just before 2.00pm, our booking was still carried over until the next day.
  • Days to arrive 4–5 days (including Saturday–Sunday).
  • Deliveries To the door. If the recipient isn't home, a calling card is left and they can either redirect it or arrange a redelivery.
  • Cover for loss or damage is included for free up to the value of $200 and you can purchase extra if needed.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Fuck the Australia Post National Crawl Center

Image
Awwww Australia Post.... Terrific.  People are so impressed with the service given by so many people in Australia Post.... The universal "Attempted Delivery" card being placed in the mail box, when the driver not only didn't bring the parcel, they never even came and knocked on the door.... Outrageous prices........ Parcels and letters going missing..... Registered mail never arriving, or getting signed for by the contractor and disappearing.... The tracking system that doesn't..... Mail taking 3 weeks to be sent from one suburb to the next......  What could be politely described as the "Go fuck yourself" policies and customer service when things are damaged or stolen.....  Packages "that could not be delivered", that end up in some Post Office,  far away, and the staff there,don't give a shit, can't find it and stuff goes missing and the customers get the run around etc... And REALLY BAD customer service..... The National Call Centre's...
Read more

Post Offices + PO Boxes = Pffft.

Image
https://www.facebook.com/australiapost/posts_to_page/ ‎ Deanne Hanchant ‎   to   Australia Post 15 hrs  ·  We have a Post Office box and most of our mail is addressed to it, however, there are some Government departments and overseas deliverers that will not mail to a PO Box and insist on a street address. We do not have a street delivery where we are. The local PO has told us that anything not addressed to our PO Box will no longer be put into our box but will be kept inside behind the counter as per Australia Post advice.  When I rang Australia Post to query this they said it is  NOT the case in an area where there is no street delivery (which is what we were told when we first got a PO Box) and it is the local PO who have made this decision, not Austpost. We took the PO Box in the first place so we could actually get our mail because we couldn't get to the shop when it was open! This new policy will affect a number of customers. Do we all just cancel our...
Read more

Australia Post gets a Snake Oil Salesman as it's new CEO.

Image
Vitamin company Blackmores chief executive Christine Holgate will be the new chief executive at Australia Post. First comments: Ms Holgate said she felt privileged to be appointed as CEO of such an iconic Australian corporation and, "one of the most resilient and successful postal businesses anywhere in the world". What she really means that she is either completely out of touch with reality or is a weasel wording corporate bullshit artist. What she said can be rephrased as "Australia Post is dying a lingering death and is an abject failure - that pretty much everyone in Australia it totally fed up with all their bullshit and is using other delivery services - if only to get away from the stolen parcels, late deliveries, being carded and bad service." Qualifies as being able to talk out her arse. [  ] Tick Previous Job. Snake Oil Salesman to the Profoundly Neurotic - "Ease your ailments with our potent magic pills". Sells mostly useless over priced shit of...
Read more