Parcel rates

[yousnoozeyoulose]

See that NZ Post have snuck their latest price increases in under my radar...

https://www.nzpost.co.nz/about-us/september2022

Super.

[Praktica]

Most of the last few cameras (surprise) that I've bought have had "postage to be arranged" - and the freight charges are getting high. I think its all these people who get couriers to collect their parcels. This is before any price rises...

[yousnoozeyoulose]

Being rural, it's getting a little ridiculous. Can always get some parcels delivered to the post office and avoid the RD fee, but it's a p in the a.

Posting a cheapo book these days the postage is now half the overall cost to the buyers. Not hard to see why TM sales have diminished.

[Oh_hunnihunni]

It cost me $19.50 to return an $11 parcel to the rural seller this week, and I'm doubting she will refund that. And that was on top of me trekking down to the local to put it in the system.

Makes me wonder why NZ Post is continually making losses. They seem to be busy enough, and building new fleets, new signage - is that eating the profits perhaps? Or was their banking business subsidising the mail?

[Lilith7]

If this keeps up sooner or later someone who's close to being rural will set up as a drop off place, for a small fee from the person who picks up the parcel.

[harm_less]

If this keeps up sooner or later someone who's close to being  rural will set up as a drop off place, for a small fee from the person who picks up the parcel.

When a customer of ours fails to declare their rural status and misses paying we suggest they use an alternative delivery address "such as a friend or workplace". Pretty much a 50/50 split between providing a non-rural address or paying the surcharge, which is $5. Can't see that many people would want the inconvenience of having every Tom, Dick or Harry collecting items for the sake of a few dollars a time particularly when they are a potentially liable link in the delivery chain when things turn pear shaped.

[Underwhelmed]

Is it cheaper to use NZ Post's Parcel Post to send small items (say, coffee mug size box) than Trade Me's Book a Courier? I've looked at the NZ Post site but I'm confused about Parcel Post (and the post bags) which are not supposed to be courier unless you pay additional courier sticker but our courier delivers all our post bags, not the mailman. There's additional effort going to the Post Office but we need to find a cheaper option than Book a Courier or give up selling small stuff entirely - especially for inter-island and rural.

[yousnoozeyoulose]

Haven't looked at the bag rates, but there no longer seems to be any difference between ParcelPost and the Book a Courier box rates. There's not a whole lot of difference between the ParcelPost (or Economy) and courier service these days. You get the same level of tracking, but they just leave your parcel in the warehouse for an extra day or two. If you put a put a small box in a NZ Post bag you're covered for interisland posting.

Some swear by PassTheParcel, and others swear against them so that's possibly a cheaper option. Alternatively, up to 10% off buying all the NZ Post bags/tickets in bulk online, or my current third option using oodles of stamps but that's reliant on now defunct tracking tickets or a post office that supports payment by way of stamps.

Those pesky rural delivery charges are hard to avoid though...