It's official! New cheaper rate for postcards from Australia! [or maybe not! please read and use your own judgement]

Yes it is!

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The last time I visited my post office, I asked for clarification on this issue, and a well organised staff member who I have known for years plucked a photo copy of “the rules” from a drawer, and told me that I could send a “naked” card for three dollars - so that is what I will do in future. But as has been said already, you could probably put any amount you liked on the card and no-one would notice !

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I just got a snarky reply from my fourth Australia Post help desk query and they refer to the document I linked above and state that it ‘clearly’ says an ‘unenclosed postcard’ is a small letter rate (ie not a Greeting Card rate). Which is how I read it too. I’ll be sending for $3 in an envelope or $3.50/$3.70 etc unenclosed. :+1:t2:

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Late yesterday I was in the Bourke St PO, where they are very helpful and knowledgeable, and they told me $3, unprompted, so I’m going with this also.

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I had another chat with the staff member at Lismore PO and she was quite emphatic that the three dollar rate applies to cards not in envelopes. Not surprisingly I did not try to contradict her ! She also said that I can send as many cards in an envelope as I wish for three dollars, as long as the thickness does not exceed five millimeters and that no letter is enclosed. I decided not to ask her what the rule would be if I wrote one long continuous message on the back of five or six free cards (I have a large stash of these), put them in an envelope marked “card only and put a three dollar stamp on it.

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I haven’t put more than $3 on a postcard since about June last year when that promo started, and I used the Christmas rate on all my postcards in Nov-Dec, and everything is arriving in the usual manner. I also have not marked any naked postcards as card only. So it would seem, all the rules are up for negotiation. Which is also why I have basically stopped going in for hand cancellations, because it’s a different story at every post office, and even with every staff member at one post office. Minimum postage, red street box, no confrontations.

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Enquired yesterday at Lismore post office if they have any three dollar international stamps available, no they don’t - they did have old $3.30 domestic stamps, which can be substituted if you don’t mind paying the 10% fee to use them on international mail So I bought a few. Then stopped off at a village store/post office outside of Lismore, which actually had international three dollar stamps issued years ago, so I bought some of them too.

Seeing as how there is an official three dollar rate now, it is a puzzle to me why Australia Post has not bothered to issue a stamp to use on appropriate mail.

Somewhat off topic, but it is interesting to note that Australia Post no longer issues high value stamps, either domestic or international. Anything larger than a letter or card gets a label on it.

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Not if I can help it!
:smiling_imp:

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The fact there isn’t, is one reason a PO employee told me the $3 rate isn’t legit. :expressionless:

I have not had any issues with sending a postcard without an envelope at the $3 rate.

Hi all,
Just noting there is now a non-Christmas $3 stamp in addition to the Christmas ones. It shows the Opera House from the front. Here is the link to the Auspost page: Opera House 50 years $3 stamp.

All the best!

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^ I’ve been getting an International $3 one with a view of Melbourne from my local Auspost for a few months, but the opera house design is also nice!

Also, yes, I’ve had no problem so far with sending at the $3 rate. I got told to just ask for $3 stamps by one of my locals - the slightly bigger more ‘corporate’ one, I suppose.
My smaller LPO doesn’t blink an eye even though they used to pull out the little template for the regions, I think they like not having to worry about me since I used to ask all the weird questions :stuck_out_tongue: They don’t even stock prepaids!

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Hi. I just restarted sending postcards today, after the pandemic delivery upheaval. I checked auspost website for international delivery prices last night, and it said postcards are classed as small letters. Looking at the different zones, they have different prices, which is what I remember from previously.

However, when I got to the PO, the lady just put $3 international stamps on all of them (I had pointed out where they were going). She said postcards were all $3. I asked if it had changed (obv I was paying by different zones previously), she said no.

So I’m confused, and a bit worried those postcards won’t reach their destinations. I’ve had incorrect and conflicting info from that PO before, so I don’t know whether they or the website are correct. What do you pay for international postcard stamps?

Yeah it’s pretty confusing and you’ll get conflicting information depending on who you ask, but the $3 greeting card rate was introduced 1-2 years ago and should cover postcards to any country. Most of the cards I sent are prepaid but my $3 stamped cards have all reached their destinations so far and I know others on here use this rate too

There’s a thread about this change when it was announced - long story short, the information was conflicting and no one could agree.

But I’ve been using $3 only, and I often take my cards into the post office to get them hand-cancelled. They always quickly check the stamp before they cancel it, and I’ve never been told to add more. So I think it’s fine.

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The discrepancy is in the International Post Charges guide, which was issued on 3rd July 2023.

The third page puts postcards in two categories. One saying that an ‘unenclosed postcard’ must be sent as a small letter, the other suggesting that a postcard can be sent as a greeting card $3 rate (but then goes on to muddy the water with a poorly worded sentence about envelopes).

This is the page:

I still get conflicting info at post office desks (and an online query eventually told me that the $3 rate was only for postcards in envelopes…but they were so confused that I’m not certain they truly knew what they were doing either).

Long and short of it, I still pay the full small letter rate (on the rare occasions that I use something other than a prepaid or maxicard), but many Aussies are using the $3 rate and having no issues.

If Oz Post is losing money over it, it’s their own silly fault.

ETA: I’m guessing that it’s probably because postcards make up such a small amount of their business that they can’t be bothered to clear the issue up :woman_shrugging:t2:.

In my view, shouldn’t they be encouraging more Postcrossing since it’s a (definite) source of revenue? :face_with_peeking_eye:

I have no idea what they are aiming for @Seracker. And given their poor financial state, I’m guessing that they don’t either.

I don’t see how Australia’s small number of Postcrossers (only 902 members logged in within the last three months) can provide any meaningful financial benefit to them. Maybe that number would increase if the cost of postage went down significantly. Is that really likely? I don’t think so…but I’d be very happy if it did! :+1:t2:

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If I were any postal service, I’ll encourage Postcrossing, penpalling, and philately at large.

In fact, philatelists would be my top customers and I’ll be eager to hear out their comments for improvement.
What better customer base than philatelists - who buy up many many stamps, not all of them for postal use.

Stamps for collection essentially means I earn twice - once when I sell the stamps, the other when the stamps are not being used to provide service.

Any revenue is good revenue!

Given the rising cost of living and all, which means more and more people will just reduce the number of stamps they buy, if AusPost wants to continue surviving, shouldn’t they be encouraging people to purchase their products?

Sure, it might not be meaningful, but every little bit counts!

Of course, that’s just my thoughts.
Pretty sure postal services are prioritising parcels over paper mail since they’re the real money-makers :crazy_face:

:rofl: you’re preaching to the choir here @Seracker. I’m not arguing with you. You know I don’t work for Oz Post right?

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