Have you ever wanted to post a book interstate or overseas with Australia Post? If so, you would know that the high cost is a disincentive to sending books to family or friends in far-flung places. I have friends in Europe who want to buy my book, but Australia Post charges more than the price of the book to mail it there – and it’s not much cheaper to North America.
Overseas postal rates:
I’d been mulling over how to solve this problem for a while, so was very pleased when Helen introduced me to Skippy Post at the recent Lifeline Bookfair.. SP takes a few extra days to reach its destination but as the following table shows, it’s much cheaper.
Parcel rates from Canberra (800 g, the weight of my book) in A$.
Australia Post (AP); Skippy Post (SP); My Charge (BG)
To | AP | SP | BG |
Canada | 29.70 | 15.67 | 15.00 |
France | 39.10 | 16.27 | 15.00 |
Germany | 39.10 | 15.50 | 15.00 |
Hong Kong | 25.30 | 20.42 | 15.00 |
Japan | 25.30 | 16.88 | 15.00 |
Korea | 26.50 | 21.36 | 15.00 |
New Zealand | 21.15 | 9.55 | 10.00 |
South Africa | 43.40 | 30.81 | 20.00 |
UK | 39.10 | 21.07 | 15.00 |
USA | 29.70 | 16.04 | 15.00 |
I will be charging the costs shown in the right-hand column, subsidising the SP rates to varying degrees to make the purchase more affordable for overseas buyers. I also have several more European countries listed in the system than are shown in the table. Any country not listed is charged a ‘Rest of the World’ price, which is the same as that shown for South Africa.
With the exception of New Zealand, local online book sellers don’t distribute overseas, which makes me the only international distributor for my book that I know of: I don’t know whether that’s good, bad or ugly, but at least it will be a signed copy.
Domestic postal rates:
Domestic rates with Australia Post are also expensive. Again, for an 800g parcel from Canberra, the rates are as shown below.
Domestic | A$ |
Canberra | 10.05 |
Sydney | 13.90 |
Melbourne | 14.35 |
Hobart | 16.40 |
Adelaide | 14.80 |
Perth | 17.70 |
Broome | 18.80 |
Darwin | 18.45 |
Cairns | 16.40 |
Brisbane | 14.65 |
I have decided to subsidise these high prices, and charge $10 post Australia-wide for domestic purchases through my website. The moral of the story is that the cheapest way to get my book is to try your local book shop.
Online book sellers seem to do lots of deals with prices and postage so you might find a better price there than I can offer.
Whichever way you buy it, happy reading, and happy travelling!
PS This post’s pic shows the gorges’ boat cruise in Nitmiluk National Park, near Katherine, in the Northern Territory.