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You must connect your Australia Post account credentials to Intuitive Shipping to access your contract rates. If you don’t have a contract account, you can connect your Australia Post API key to access discounted retail rates for parcels and letters.
Connect Australia Post Contract Account
This guide shows you how to link your Australia Post contract account credentials to Intuitive Shipping. If you're using Australia Post retail rates, refer to the guide Connect Australia Post Retail Key.
Learn how to connect to other carriers.
If you have a contract account with Australia Post, you can connect it to Intuitive Shipping using your account credentials. Once connected, Australia Post will be available when creating a parcel service shipping method, and these credentials are required to use Australia Post as a carrier service with Intuitive Shipping.
If you don’t connect your Australia Post credentials here, you can still add them directly when setting up a shipping method.
After your credentials are saved in Intuitive Shipping, they’ll be used automatically each time you add the same carrier account to a new shipping method.
Learn more about how to create a parcel service shipping method.
Add Australia Post To Carrier Accounts List
Australia Post contract account credentials are required to complete this setup. If you don't have contract account credentials, including an API Key and Password and Account number, learn how to get them here.
1. Click Carrier accounts on the sidebar menu.
2. Click Add carrier account.
3. Click the drop-down arrow beside Parcel services.
4. Select Australia Post from the list.
5. Click the Configure account button.
Carrier Account Settings
1. Enter a Carrier account title, such as ‘Australia Post Contract’.
Carrier account titles are not visible to customers.
Australia Post Account
1. Enter your Australia Post API key.
2. Enter your Australia Post Password.
3. Enter your Australia Post contract Account number.
4. Click the Save button to save your Australia Post contract account.
Connect Australia Post Retail Key
If you don't have a contract account with Australia Post, you can obtain a retail API key and connect it to Intuitive Shipping.
1. Click Carrier accounts on the sidebar menu.
2. Click Add carrier account.
3. Click the drop-down arrow beside Parcel services.
4. Select Australia Post Retail from the list.
5. Click the Configure account button.
Carrier Account Settings
1. Enter a Carrier account title, such as ‘Australia Post Retail’.
Carrier account titles are not visible to customers.
Australia Post Account
1. Enter your Australia Post retail API key.
2. Click the Save button to save your Australia Post retail account.
Create An Australia Post Account
If you don’t have an Australia Post account, you can easily create one following the steps below. Please contact Australia Post directly if you have technical issues while creating your account.
1. In a new browser tab, go to the Australia Post website.
Australia Post periodically updates their website. The screenshots below are provided for visual reference and may differ from your experience.
2. Select the Business tab on the main menu, then click the MyPost Business box.
2. Click Sign up for free now.
3. Click Signup below the login box.
4. Enter your email address, create a password and complete the sign-up process.
5. To create an eParcel contract account, click your business name at the top right of the main menu bar, then select eParcel Contract from the drop-down list.
eParcel contract eligibility may require shipping at least 2000 parcels domestically per year. If you already have a business account, contact your account manager for details.
6. Click Log in to eParcel.
7. Click Find out more.
8. Click the Talk to an expert button.
9. Complete the Request a Callback form.
Create API Credentials
To link your Australia Post account to Intuitive Shipping, you’ll need to register for an API Key.
1. Go to Australia Post's Developer Portal.
2. Select APIs on the menu bar, then click the Register for a key button.
To obtain an eParcel API key, Australia Post requires customers to meet the eParcel contract minimums.
3. Complete the registration to receive your API key credentials from Australia Post.
4. Connect your Australia Post contract API key and password or Australia Post retail API key to Intuitive Shipping.
Restrictions
Each carrier has restrictions that may limit your shipping capabilities or prevent you from making certain shipments. Here are some restrictions to be aware of when using Australia Post.
- Originating address - To use Australia Post, the shipment must originate within Australia.
- Restrictions by country - Each country you ship to may have its own trade and import restrictions. Not all Australia Post delivery services are available to all countries. Learn more about restrictions for specific countries here.
- Prohibited items - Certain goods, including items considered to be illegal or dangerous, may not be shipped by Australia Post under any circumstances. Learn more about restricted items here.
- Controlled items - items such as tobacco and vaping products, plants and animals, and dangerous goods may be shipped if they meet certain criteria. Other items such as pharmaceuticals may be shipped by Australia Post under strict regulations in some areas and prohibited in others. Learn more about restricted items here.
- Packaging restrictions - Some products can only be shipped if they comply with certain packaging standards. Learn more about Australia Post packaging requirements or obtain guidance for packaging your items here.
- International restrictions - Customs and international laws may limit what you ship, how you ship it, and how it can be returned to you. You may also require additional information, such as Harmonization codes, documentation and fees to complete your shipment. Learn more about shipping internationally with Australia Post here.
- Size & weight restrictions - Packages shipped by Australia Post must not exceed a length of 105 cm ( 41.3 inches or 3.4 feet) or girth of 140 cm (55.2 inches or 4.6 feet), or a weight of 22 kg (48.5 lbs) for most services. Some international destinations may have lower limits. Standard letters may not exceed 130 x 240 x 5 mm (5.1 x 9.5 x 0.2 inches), or a weight of 250 g (8.8 oz). Oversized letters may not exceed 260 x 360 x 20 mm (10.2 x 14.2 x 0.8 inches), or a weight of 500 g (17.6 oz). Parcels and letters exceeding the limits may be subject to additional fees and may be shipped only at the discretion of Australia Post.
For more information about Australia Post restrictions, please visit the Australia Post website or contact your local Australia Post representative.
Troubleshooting
In certain situations, rates from Australia Post may not appear at checkout, or they might not be displayed as expected. You may be able to determine why rates aren’t being displayed correctly by reviewing the rate calculation Activity.
1. Click Activity on the main menu.
2. Select ‘Unsuccessful requests only‘ from the Filter by request status drop-down list. This will list only Activities where rates were not returned.
Warnings & errors are not displayed as a result of missing information, such as missing customer address information, or an invalid request, such as Status (visibility) turned off or Shopify Carrier-calculated Rates not enabled.
5. Review the warnings for Australia Post delivery services.
Here are some of the most common reasons why carrier rates don't appear at checkout:
Sandbox Mode
While you're in Sandbox mode, rates will only appear at checkout when you use ‘Intuitive’ on the checkout page, even when the Scenario status is set to ‘On’. To make your rates visible to customers, you will need to select a billing plan to activate your free trial.
To test rates in Sandbox mode
- For Shopify - enter ‘Intuitive’ as either the customer’s first or last name at checkout
- For BigCommerce or Shopify B2B - enter ‘Intuitive’ in the optional address field for ‘Apartment/ Suite/ Building’ at checkout.
Scenario Status
If rates are not appearing with an active billing plan, it may be because the Scenario status is set to 'Off' (not visible to anyone) or 'Test' (only visible when using ‘Intuitive’ on the checkout page).
Shipping Method Status
If rates are not appearing with an active billing plan, it may be because the shipping method Status is set to 'Off' (not visible to anyone) or 'Test' (only visible when using ‘Intuitive’ on the checkout page).
Carrier-calculated Rates
If you're using Shopify, their third-party carrier service feature must be enabled on your Shopify account to use any third-party shipping rate calculator app, including Intuitive Shipping.
Account Credentials
Double-check that you have correctly entered your User ID and password, and that there are no spaces or extra or missing characters.
Packages
Rates may not appear if a suitable package size is uavailable in your parcel service shipping method. If the correct package size is missing or set to 'Off', the next largest package will be used. If the next package size exceeds the carrier's size limits, no rate will be returned.
If a suitable package isn't found, Intuitive Shipping will attempt to create a custom package using the product dimensions. If that custom package also exceeds the carrier limits, no rate will be returned.
To prevent this, make sure the packages in your shipping method are properly set up to fit your products and that they meet the carrier's size requirements.
Delivery Services
Some carrier delivery services may be unavailable due to restrictions such as shipment size, weight, or the customer’s address. If some Australia Post rates appear but others do not, or if another carrier returns rates while Australia Post does not, the issue is likely related to service limitations.
Check that the selected services are compatible with the shipping address. For example, domestic-only services will not return rates for international addresses.
If some rates were returned and others were not, review the Notifications for any messages related to the carrier.
Product Dimensions & SmartBoxing
If you’re using SmartBoxing, volume-based shipping, products must have dimensions set in Intuitive Shipping (Shopify only). Dimensions are required for SmartBoxing and volume-based packing to pack the order. If any product is missing dimensions, the packing process will fail, no package info will be sent to the carrier, and no rates will be returned. If you're using dimension-based conditions, missing dimensions will cause the Scenario conditions to fail.
Learn more about how to use SmartBoxing.
Syncing
While you’re in Sandbox mode, any product changes must be manually synced with Intuitive Shipping. Once you activate a billing plan, syncing happens automatically. However, if many changes are made in a short period of time, such as adding or editing several products, auto-syncing may not finish completely. If required product details are missing, the calculation will fail and package information cannot be sent to the carrier.
If you’re using the SmartBoxing packing algorithm, be sure all new products have dimensions added in Intuitive Shipping.
Cost Adjustments
If rates are showing but appear too high or too low, a cost adjustment may have been applied. Check the 'Cost adjustments' section (in Optional Settings) of your parcel service shipping method.
Contact Us
If rates aren't displaying as expected and you are unable to resolve the issue, please contact us. We’re here to help!