You’ve just scored the online bargain of a lifetime, only to realise that by the time you add postage, you haven’t saved much at all.
Postage fees are the breakers of all hearts for online shoppers. A necessary evil, they are largely unavoidable, and seem to steadily and regularly increase.
So, what is a shopper to do?
Australia Post -- which usually bears the brunt of the above-mentioned consumer unhappiness, especially given its FY2016-17 revenue of almost $7 billion was driven largely by growth in parcel volumes – has launched a deal where you pay a flat amount every month for ‘free shipping’ from a number of retailers.
Called Shipster, the plan costs $6.95 per month, which entitles you to ‘free shipping’ when you spend at least $25 from retailers including Myer, Target, Toys-R-Us, Harvey Norman, Cotton On, and Kogan. A full list of participating retailers can be found here.
With around 50 retailers, this isn’t an extensive list, although new retailers are regularly added.
Under its Fair Use policy, Shipster states you can use this service up to 160 times per 12-month period, which equates to around 13 deliveries per month.
To be eligible, you need to sign up for Shipster on the website. There is currently a 2-month free period to test the service to see whether you feel it’s worthwhile.
You’ll need to provide a credit card to sign up, and after your free period ends, you’ll automatically be billed $6.95 per month. There is no contract and you can cancel at any time.
In the US, Amazon offers a similar product calleed Amazon Prime for US$99 a year, guaranteeing 2-day shipping on selected goods purchased through the platform.
