We send all deliveries by courier.

The courier makes an additional charge for delivery to rural addresses.

All of our listings have shipping costs for both rural and non-rural deliveries.

Our despatch system checks all delivery addresses before your order is packed. If your address is classed as rural but you have not paid the rural fee, we will be unable to send your order until you have paid the correct shipping charge or given us an alternative non-rural address.

Why is there an extra charge for Rural Delivery?

The cost of delivering to rural areas is generally higher than for urban areas.

The courier passes on this extra cost in the form of a rural delivery fee.

How do I know if I need to pay for Rural Delivery?

The courier uses the same definition of rural addresses as New Zealand Post.

Most people are aware if they live at an address that is classed as rural by New Zealand Post, but you can easily confirm if any address is rural here on the New Zealand Post website.

If your address is identified as being rural on the New Zealand Post website, then your address is also classed as rural by the courier.

There are absolutely no exceptions to this rule – an address showing as rural on this website will always attract the rural delivery fee.

Deliveries to PO Boxes are always classed as non-rural, so this is a good option for many of our customers.

My Postie delivers my parcels, why am I paying extra for courier delivery?

Regardless of how your parcel is delivered to your door, the courier network is used to collect and transport your parcel to your nearest courier depot, usually faster than it would be transported by standard post. The parcel is fully tracked throughout this journey so you can see how your delivery is progressing.

Depending on your location, the parcel may then be delivered to you by the courier or it may be handed over to the rural delivery network for final delivery. The additional rural delivery fee pays for this last leg of the journey.

Many of the rural delivery drivers are independent contractors, and the rural delivery fee is used to pay for their services. Others work directly for New Zealand Post (e.g. as a Postie), and the rural fee contributes to the cost of running the delivery service in these areas.

I live on a main road, surely I’m not rural?

Even some main roads in small towns are classed as rural if they are in relatively remote areas, and if New Zealand Post considers the cost of delivery to be higher than for more urban areas.

Can you send by standard post instead?

Sorry, we do not use standard post.

We specialise in providing the fastest and safest tracked delivery, and we send by courier in order to achieve this. It ensures that your delivery is tracked at each major stage of the journey, so you can see how your delivery is progressing.

Even the slower standard post services have an additional rural delivery charge, so it is impossible for us to send an item by any form of delivery without incurring an additional rural fee.

Can you send by standard post “at the buyer’s risk”?

As a professional retailer, we take full responsibility for your order until it is delivered to you.

In legal terms, there is no such thing as “buyer’s risk” when buying from a business. We are legally responsible for your delivery, and any attempt to opt out of this responsibility would be a breach of the Consumer Guarantees Act.

Can you use a different courier?

We have a contract in place for delivery, so we do not use any other courier.

Can I send you my own postage bag?

We cannot accept any type of postage bag.

We send out large quantities of orders every day, and it is not economically viable for us to make bespoke shipping arrangements for individual orders. This would inevitably lead to an increase in prices to cover the additional work involved.

How can I avoid paying the rural fee?

Many customers choose to provide us with an alternative non-rural delivery address, e.g. a workplace, a family address or a PO Box address.

You can easily save different delivery addresses on Trade Me to send to different sellers when you are buying.

Can you send it without a rural sticker?

It makes no difference whether or not a rural sticker is attached to the parcel. We use an on-line direct booking system for most deliveries that doesn’t require a separate rural sticker, and which won’t allow us to book a rural delivery without paying the rural fee.

The courier also automatically checks all addresses as part of the delivery process to make sure the correct fee has been paid.

Courier bags and tickets are linked to the sender’s courier account. If there is no rural fee paid but the delivery address is rural, the delivery is flagged as under-paid and the rural fee is automatically charged to our courier account.

Can you send it without “RD” in the address?

The courier automatically checks all addresses as part of the delivery process.

If the delivery address is rural, even if the RD number has not been included on the address label, the delivery is flagged as under-paid and the rural fee is automatically charged to our courier account.

Can you deliver to my PO Box?

Yes, absolutely. Deliveries to PO Boxes are always classed as non-rural, so this is a good option for many of our customers.

I’ll pick the parcel up from my local Post Shop, so I don’t need to pay the rural  delivery fee?

Regardless of any local delivery arrangements, if the delivery address on the parcel is rural, the rural fee is automatically charged to our courier account.

If you want delivery to your nearest Post Shop, the parcel will need to be addressed directly to the Post Shop, and not to your rural address. You will need to check with your Post Shop if they can offer this kind of service. Please note that delivery to some Post Shops also attracts the rural fee – you will need to check the delivery address of the Post Shop using the address checker.

How long will my rural delivery take to arrive?

The courier aims to get your parcel to your nearest delivery depot within their normal delivery targets.

The parcel is then delivered by a local courier, or it may be handed over to the rural delivery network for final delivery. The timescales for this final leg of the journey can vary considerably depending on how remote the delivery address is.

The delivery target is 1-3 working days after handover to the rural delivery network. Some deliveries arrive quicker than the target, but others will take longer.

I haven’t paid the rural fee, but I’m rural. What do I do now?

There are 3 options for you to choose from:

1. You can provide us with an alternative non-rural delivery address. Many of our customers use a workplace or family delivery address to reduce the cost.
2. You can pay the rural fee to complete your purchase. Please contact us and we can let you know how to do this.
3. You can cancel your purchase and we will refund any payment you’ve already made.

I don’t agree that my address should be classed as rural. What should I do?

Unfortunately, this is completely out of our control.

If New Zealand Post has decided to class an address as rural, then the rural charge will be incurred for delivery.

You can contact New Zealand Post Customer Services on 0800 501 501 if you wish to discuss it further.