AusPost price rise: Mailing houses angry

Australian mailing houses are angry about the latest AusPost price rises, slated to come into effect in July, saying the rises will directly impact on their volumes.

Last week, AusPost announced it will be raising its bulk mailing fees by 10 per cent in the new financial year, the second price rise in six months.

One mailing house boss, speaking to ProPrint says, “Our customers cannot afford to keep sending mail. It is real and it is dramatic. Over the last three years our company has lost 40 per cent of the print based work; this the reality for everyone.

“That is just what happening, the volumes drop and each time the rates go up customers completely stop using us and go online,” he says.

However, he says this move is purely due to the drop banks and telcos using less mailing services for their billings as they penalise customers who won’t move to online billing. “The thing that is hurting Auspost is the telcos, banking and finance companies. That is where they have been killed. To cover that revenue, the rates are going up,” he says.

[Related: AusPost raising bulk mailing fees again]

Michael Buttigieg, general manager at Digicom says he is not happy about the timing as he has locked the company’s budget away for the next financial year.

“We have seen a significant increase, the biggest issue is you do not know when it is going to stop, people were not expecting the price rise. Now people have the same money and will have to send less. That is all that will occur, AusPost is shooting themselves in the foot.”

Buttigieg is not surprised about the price rise, he says, “When the stamp went to a dollar I knew they would eat away at that discount.”

Buttigieg says this has been the company’s first year sending more e-communications than paper.

Steven Matas, managing director, BMS says, “The price rise is unnecessary, I did not expect it after the Christmas price rise.”

Another mailing house told ProPrint, “Auspost is not being considerate, it is spending more money overseas instead of in Australia. They need money, instead of getting a cap expenditure, they are utilising the profits to go overseas as they do not want to be bought out by a Japanese mailing company.”

Australia Post is contacting its bulk mail customers, telling them, ‘We are reviewing our business letter pricing and can advise that business letter prices will increase at the beginning of the new financial year.’

This new increase comes after prices rose 40 per cent in January 2016 and once again with above-inflation increases at the beginning of this year. The price rises will be implemented in the start of July. 

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