Re: A seasonal question.
Originally Posted by
Bruce
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Interesting! we seniors get a concession postage stamp which cost 60c (30p) to post a letter anywhere in Australia, Normal mortals have to buy a $1.10 (55p) stamp (just gone up from a $1) for the same service. This doesn't guarantee anything like next day delivery especially if you live in a rural area. I have known it to take up to 5 days for a letter to get from Wollongong to Canberra a three hour drive away, it probably doesn't take any longer for a letter to get to Perth 3000km away.
Overseas letter post (no concession there) to the UK is $3.20 (£1.60)
However at Christmas there is a special card only rate, I am not sure what it will be this year but last year for cards within Australia it was 65p - which was still dearer than the seniors concession rate.
BTW we old folks don't get unlimited concession stamps they are limited to 50 a year
No concessions here Bruce, none at all!
When I was working as self-employed it was necessary to invoice customers for work I had done. These were sent by post and most were to the area where I used to live, about 65 miles (104.6km) from where I now live. At times it took five days or more for a Second Class stamped envelope to reach customers, some never arrived at all!
As a result of this fiasco I embraced new technology and invoiced by e-mail. No cheques this way either as payments could be made direct into my business account by BACS payment, a free and standard way of making payments electronically. This has happened all over the UK so Royal Mail have to try and chase those losses – the result being annual increases in prices.
I still to this day regret not emigrating to Australia some 50 years' ago, a far better place to live than the UK, I believe. If only I could turn back the clock and all those years