I’m hoping for advice from anyone in Norfolk Island or, statistically more likely, from Australia.
I normally travel there every year and am heading over next month. Obviously being a ‘rare’ ‘country’ from the Postcrossing perspective I’m going to hit the postcard sending pretty hard.
I’ve not posted internationally from NI before — only ‘domestically’ to mainland Australia.
I was thinking of buying a bunch of these off the auspost website and using them as the postage
So postage totalling $3.60 in domestic stamps for international locations. Is that going to be fine? I remember all the hubbub about whether the new $3 flat postcard rate did or didn’t apply to naked unenveloped postcards. I don’t know if that got resolved and whether this will work out okay.
Maybe you can send a quick message to KiwiAoraki on the main site (he’s not on the forum), since he seems to have been the last person sending postcards from there. He’ll probably have some tips, or can at least share his experience!
I hope everything goes well and that you enjoy your adventure!
I can’t help with anything to do with NI except to say - have a lovely time!
My interaction with Australia Post on the $3 rate was painful, but in the end I was told that it only applied to postcards in envelopes, not ‘naked’ ones (which, as an aside, seems just plain dumb to me…but what do I know)!
I have not been using the $3 rate. I pay the full, zoned rates ($3.50, $3.70 & $3.80) for anything that isn’t prepaid or in an envelope. I don’t want to give them any reason not to transport my cards.
This said, I get the impression that quite a few Postcrossers here are using the $3 rate…and their cards get through .
Yep. It seems crazy. The only thing I can think is that they are actively trying to discourage sending ‘naked’ postcards. Given the issues I think they have with them in their auto-sorting machines (this is based on the ripped/folded/damaged cards I receive and the cards I receive with multiple sorting marks on both sides and in multiple different orientations)…perhaps envelopes don’t pose as much of an issue to the sorting process and make their life easier. I should do a survey of my incoming mail and compare sorting marks between envelopes and postcards.
Please report back if you do! I don’t get that many envelopes, and most I do get are postage paid, but I am certain I’ve received some with markings in the wrong spot. I’m sure I’ve also received mangled envelopes (last year I got half a Christmas card from my aunt). The machines are just monsters to everything.
Now that I think about it, maybe if postcards are a problem it’s less to do with size or thickness, and more to do with all the extra writing around the address that confuses the scanners. Envelopes usually don’t have anything else on them but the address. So maybe a good test would be to send some envelopes with extra writing or other decorations on front or back
I agree about the extra writing on postcards being a source of confusion for the address scanning process. I’ve often wondered how on earth they determine which is the address and which is just my gibberish!
Blargh, this is what I was suspecting but afraid of so my postage plans are not going to work. I particularly want to use the NI stamps, but as they’re only in $1.20 or $2.40 denominations it will be needlessly expensive to do that.
If I (likely!) pull an address in the $3.70 zone then I’ll need 3.70 + 0.37 = 4.07 since it’s domestic rates, then round up to 4.40 because of the stamp denominations. Grr
I’ll have to workshop this plan!
Thank you very much! Has the Postcrossing mailbox received a Norfolk Island card yet or might I be the first to contribute one?
Since the 3.00$ came to effect I’ve never used more postage for sending naked cards… (perhaps 3.30 for domestic stamps)
Never had any problems…
I find the whole discussion about naked and enveloped cards amusing if not unnecessary, to be honest…
Never heard of anyone having their cards returned
I’m actually not sure if we’ve ever received a postcard from there… but every postcard is special, so we would treasure one from you! Tell us how your trip there is going, and what your favorite part has been!
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so my postage plans are not going to work. I particularly want to use the NI stamps, but as they’re only in $1.20 or $2.40 denominations it will be needlessly expensive to do that.
