POSTAL CHARGES

There has been a lot of emails lately regarding the rising cost of International postage, which is causing a few ladies (sadly) to leave QBSA.

I have been communicating with Cathy ( who runs the Christmas group ) at length over the past week to try and come up with a solution, questions we have been asking each other are:

Do we split into two groups? one international and Australia?

Do we stop swapping internationally and revert back to an Australian only group?

Do we leave it like it is, and let the members drop out if they don’t want to swap internationally?

Do we allow individual members the choice of swapping with their own country or with everyone in the group.

I have emailed all of the US members,  as it was firstly the US members that have been dropping out of the group due to a recent increase in postal charges.  I have given them the option to do USA only swaps or stay in the mix with everyone, and all but one have opted to stay swapping Internationally.  Which is really pleasing, as why join an Australian swap group, and not swap with Australians. 

There are a lot of tips on saving  postage and I thank you all for your feedback.   Lori has come up with a good solution for the US ladies which reads

So you may want to let these USA ladies know you keep your envelope to a business size 4.1/8 x 9.1/2 (USA) and get a global stamp $1.10 and you should have no troubles. It helps to go to the counter & ask 'what do you have available to this area.

I got stung today at the post office sending a parcel to the US, it contained two blocks, flat in a plastic zip lock bag and a note card.  As it weighed 71 grams it cost me $6.20 to post.  The post mistress informed me that us Aussies have also had a price rise and to get a letter to the US, its needs to weigh in less than 50 grams and be flat, so I guess that means no more double blocks, and lighter note cards.

I have therefore gone onto the Australian post website and can give you the current cost of posting to the US and other countries that we have regular swaps with and they are

TO USA AND CANADA

( costs correct as at 5th Feb 2013)

under 50g   $2.35

50g – 250g   $6.20

250 – 500g  $14.20

Please bear in mind that these are posted as LETTERS, anything bulky will be treated as a parcel and the costs would increase accordingly.

So, where to from here.

To those ladies that we have made special arrangements with, we will honour that, but this is for a limited time as partners will run out.  Other than that, no changes will be made to the groups in the short term but we suggest that if postal costs are a concern to you, to be mindful of the weight of your letter before you head off to the post office.