On October 1, Australia Post announced an annual increase of about two per cent across most of its products and services, including parcel delivery costs.

It comes at the same time Wagga’s businesses call on customers to shop locally to boost the economy, as well as most central retailers saying no to extra staff this Christmas.

Chelsea Martin, owner of Eco Living and Gifts and a MyPost Business customer, said the price increases made it harder for small businesses to compete with large retailers.

“It is a concern because these days most people want free shipping, so it’s another cost that small businesses have to deal with,” Ms Martin said.

While the majority of her customers come into the store, Ms Martin said that the business’ e-commerce “picks up during Christmas”.

“When it gets closer to Christmas, there tends to be a mad rush,” she said.

"There’s also more customers out of town ordering online – I’d say about it’s about 70 per cent in store 30 from our website.”

In October, Australia Post also announced changes to its ‘Send and Save’ discounts for business customers: while metropolitan businesses may get up to 35 per cent discount for sending mail in large volumes to the ‘same metro area’, the changes included smaller relief for regional businesses.

In response Australia Post has said there is still a business discount for sending regional orders

A spokesperson for Australia Post told Fairfax Media that for many customers “these pricing changes will be largely offset by the savings they receive for sending parcels between metro areas and major regional centres”.

“MyPost Business customers who send predominantly to regional areas can still receive savings of up to 12.5 per cent through buying bulk pre-paid satchels,” the spokesperson said.

“For most products, this is the first price change in more than 12 months.

“These changes will ensure we can continue to manage the rising costs of delivery and invest in our large and trusted network that covers more than 4000 post offices and 11.9 million delivery points every day.”

The carrier also encouraged companies to contact it directly to ensure they are getting the best deal available.

Prior to the increases in October, Ms Martin switched to Sendle, a courier service that began in 2014, to elevate cost pressures.

The platform offers flat-rate delivery fees across the globe.

However, Ms Martin said she switched back to Australia Post due to better efficiency.

Sharing Ms Martin’s sentiments is Bruce Heydon, owner of Riverina Model Cars Plus who said the increase is hurting his operation with a turnover of $80,000 per year.

“I sell 75 per cent of my items online, which means I ship a lot of things,” Mr Heydon said.

“I’ve got customers nationally and some overseas as well and shipping costs are already affecting.

“I’ve been trying to drive more traffic to the business’s website and to do that, reducing the costs of shipping on customers is one way.”

Mr Heydon, who says demand is stronger during Christmas, has also experienced the loss of potential buyers after they learnt about the added shipping costs.

“What I’ve done now is offer free shipping to purchase of $150 or more, bearing the costs [of shipping] to get that large website traffic” he said.

“It’s a flow-on effect as well – my suppliers have increased their prices even though they use mostly courier services.”

As part of the latest Australia Post changes, products that have been reduced in prices are postage for international outbound parcels, international extra cover and document certification.

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