There is still no set date for commencement in Australia.

However the pricing structure is a bit clearer.

SOC will be losing money on every card when it first begins printing. To recover a portion of that, cards sent in Australia will cost an extra point (US49c or US31c wholesale) until the volume picks up.

Effectively this means that with the cheaper local postage and $US changes, the cost per card will be roughly the same.

If you had been holding off for cheaper cards then you’ll be waiting not only until SOC comes to Australia, but also until it builds up enough volume.

Unsurprisingly, there will also be no local gifts initially as this too needs to be built up over time.

This progression is how it began in the US over the past 5 years, and the expectation is that each new country that opens will follow a similar growth curve in getting local resources into place.

Hope this helps you in planning for SendOutCards.

Please keep me posted on Send Out Cards Australia.

Sorry - I missed your original email!

Thanks for the sample family Christmas card you sent - I was very impressed with the quality of the card, and the versatility of the options (i.e: family photo).

I personally think that for small business use, the fact that a stamped envelope is from Australia will gain trust from customers. I get mail from Singapore, the U.S, and it is often just direct mail spam (and low quality printing at that).

It turns me off of the product, and that is really what you want the potential customer to focus on - the ‘thing’ that you are trying to sell.

I noticed that the Hoard Clients website has now been bought out by Peter Montaya. Sample postcards, brochures and cards that I clicked on, are very corporate and boring. A potentially good product gone to waste, when a little humour and quirkiness would have gone a long way!

Regards, Michele

I apologize for the late post for this edition of the Customer Service Carnivale!  It took awhile to get through all the readings, plus it's been an unusually busy few days…There are so many great articles, advice, and tips……