A subtle difference between New Zealand and the United States is how mail and package delivery works. I never gave mail much thought in the US, other than to wonder at the marvel of Amazon Prime and its speedy delivery. With that being said, I do have quite the stationary collection - this is just a small sample of the goodies I’ve got stashed away!
Mail delivery isn’t every day: Residential mail is delivered either Monday/Wednesday/Friday or Tuesday/Thursday/Saturday. If you’ve got a priority letter it will still be delivered as soon as possible, but there’s no need to check the mailbox every day.
Post offices aren’t stand alone buildings: To get a stamp or mail a package, the best options are to go to a PaperPlus store, which sells books, toys, greeting cards, etc., or to a KiwiBank, which is, well, a bank. Separate from these stores are the private box storefronts which literally only have walls of PO Boxes. To rent a box, you’ll need to go to the aforementioned PaperPlus or KiwiBank. Usually they’re close to each other, but may be as far as a few blocks away. I’ve found that when mailing a letter, it is easiest to get the proper stamp from the postman, then drop off my envelope in the nearest mailbox (typically located right outside the store).
Courier services are all the rage: Got a package to send within New Zealand? Use a courier. The typical courier cost is about NZ$5 (or US$3.50) and is totally worth it. Often that is cheaper than the cost of gas and parking to go to the store to pick up the item in question. I’ve had items sent by courier across town and ordered many New Zealand-made products from around the islands that are delivered in just a few days thanks to these handy vans zipping around. In fact, I just had some monogrammed swim bags for the kids show up. I ordered them from a store in Napier on Wednesday, and the bags were on my doorstep by midday on Friday. This is the closest thing I’ve found to Amazon Prime or Favor or fill-in-your-favorite-delievery-service-here.
Overseas delivery takes a long time: Unlike domestic mail, international mail and packages take a long time. Strangely, mail appears to take longer than packages, which I don’t quite understand. It took, on average, three weeks for Christmas cards from the US to reach our mailbox this year. Packages, however, took slightly less at two and a half weeks. Packages from Australia take between one to two weeks. The ports are very busy here, and the strict biosecurity checks mean things get backed up.
I have yet to try some of the overseas shopping options. YouShop claims to get US goods through in 4-6 days at a discounted rate. MyUS says they can get goods to New Zealand in 2-4 days with express shipping and 4-8 days with standard shipping. MyUS looks interesting, too, because it has a tax-free zip code and no charge to consolidate packages into one box. Let me know if you’ve tried any of these services and how well they work please!
When sending items from New Zealand to the United States, my experience has been that letters take between 6-10 working days and non-expedited packages take about two weeks.
Addressing an envelope is very similar to the US. I had an irrational fear of messing up the address on my first New Zealand letter. Finally, I consulted NZpost to confirm that the order is:
Receiver (person or business) Mr. & Mrs. Smith
Delivery address 12 A Main St.
Suburb Kohimarama
Town/City postcode Auckland 1071
Note that there is no comma after the Town/City. I’ve found that a tough habit to break! Just like in the US, the return address can go in the top left corner or on the back. The stamp goes in the right hand corner. Domestic stamps cost NZ$1.20. International stamps are NZ$4.40.
So there you have it. More detail than you ever thought necessary about the post system in Auckland. I know there are some differences and more expense for rural addresses, but the urban mail delivery system runs seamlessly, and I don’t feel like I’m missing out on anything even with fewer delivery days.
