Decades of faithful support from newsagents of the Trading Post weekly newspaper has been “rewarded” by the publisher choosing Australia Post as the partner for its expanded online Trading Post auction offering. Traders will need to go to an Australia Post outlet (and stand in a line for too long) to complete a 100 point check to be approved by the Trading Post. This is an insult to newsagents who could have easily provided the 100 point check service and another example of the disregard Trading Post publisher Sensis has for our channel.
Simple Solution; we buoycot the publication. I for one am sick of being treated like a second rate business person by some of our suppliers.
I would be happy to send a clear message to the execs.
Vaughan
NewsXpress Seymour
I wouldn’t be too concerned about this… Have you actually tried out their new online auction service? It’s not very user friendly and full of glitches.
The Trading Post are under absolute extreme pressure to quickly move and give itself an uprecedented second chance in the online auction space losing out to eBay in the first round.
Not many people remember that many many years ago the Trading Post actually tried to charge people $ 12.00 per month to view the ads online on Thursday mornings before the 10:00am deadline when it was free to browse.
With eBay changing its payment terms on June 17th to only accept cash and PayPal (Owned by eBay) companies like the Trading Post and the upcoming OZTION site are ready to pounce and take some market share from eBay.
What is actually scary is that eBay will actually lose people as they jump ship to traditional long standing publications like the Trading Post. The Trading Post understanding the challenges of eBay fraud needs a sure fire way to verify your identity before you sell anything.
The Trading Post does not care, it is being given a massive second chance at the online market space and nothing is going to stop them.
The unfortunate reality for newsagents is that the 100 point check is already a process by which the Post Office processes Passports & Licenses so they have a ready made and pre-qualified representative acting on their behalf.
Marco newsagents do the 100 point check for several suppliers too. Sensis knows this. They had to choose the retail channel they see as their long term partner.
doing 100point checks are time consuming and 2out of 3 customers arrive with half the required documents and have to come back a second time , so think yourself lucky you are not spending your time on such as small return leave that to australia post
Gino;
The issue is not about the time consuming process, even though you are correct, the issue is more about the failure by our industry, ie VANA & The ANF, to positively leverage a deal for newsagents. We sell the bloody thing, not Australia Post. Too many times in the past newsagents have missed opportunities because our representation to publishers stands for squat.
It would have been great for Trading Post to come direct to The Newsagency industry and offer the deal, and not even think about Australia Post.
Maybe they did? I certainly know nothing of it.
Our Associations should have been all over this as soon as the deal with Oz Post was done; a simple message telling all newsagents to send the product back to the publisher as a result of the failure by MTP to support the newsagency industry which has supported it for so long. It is about time we started sending a clear message to publishers that this type of behaviour will not be tolerated.
Would the Major Supermarkets put up with this type of crap?
Vaughan
At the post office, you have to make an appointment to have your passport processed – will it be the same for Trading Post?
Newsagents have done 100 point checks for BOPO cards (and received a fee) in the past, so they have the expertise – Trading Post have ignored their longstanding partner.
Not all Australia Post outlets make you have an appointment for passport interviews, get your facts right Norm. If the idiots that are applying for 100 point checks would bother to read the form and have their ID ready it would be a big help.
Who pinched prepaid phone card selling of Aust Post, leeches like Nesagents. Newsgents deserva all the competition that can be thrown back at them. Our local lazy sod won’t even put the paper in the mailbox, he just throws it any where, up trees, in the gutter, next door, at least the mailman has the decency to put the mail in our box.
Ada,
Have to love that comment about papers….you have never delivered papers have you. I have delivered both and assure you that the postie has a much easier job.
ADA … EVERYONE IS ENTITLED TO A RESPONCE BUT YOU CAN’T BE SERIOUS ,HAVE YOU EVER TRIED TO PUT 2 OR3 PAPERS IN A MAIL BOX IT JUST DOSN’T WORK
Ada,
I am hoping that there will be a day that every household will install a ‘newspaper box’ for us to drop the paper at a cost of $0.50 per paper (same as present postage) and at any time (not restricted to before 7am) during the day.
Bario,
That is a great way of putting it .
Ada,
What exactly in the name Australia POST has to do with phone products anyway? On your thinking, owners of Telstra,Optus,Vodafone et al franchised shops could well call you a leech (lets be honest, you are an Aust Post franchise).
As for your other comments, well they have been addressed.
Ada
I repeat, at Post Offices, you have to make an appointment to get your passport, at LPOs the situation may well be different.
To call your potential customers idiots is an indication of your business acumen.
Post Offices should stick (pardon the pun) to stamps and get out of the phone cards, stationery, giftware.
As for deliveries, I have received cards from the post office to collect mail from them and they were not open on a saturday morning!
Post Office ads say they are operating seven days a week – try to buy a stamp from the Post Office (not an LPO) on a sunday – it is not going to happen!