Postage from South Africa, your cheapest options

Postage from South Africa always seems astronomically high, and it's tough to try compete with US based Etsy sellers. On top of that the people behind the counter at the South Africa Post Office (SAPO) don't offer advice on how to lower your costs.

My first revelation was that if you use an envelope sized 353 x 250 mm with a maximum thickness of 30mm and are posting something weighing up to 300g - it will only cost R30.65, but make sure they use the 'large letter' category. (This is in comparison to R23.30 per 100g (or part there of) for a small parcel - a saving of R39.25!)

My latest revelation was that PostNet could be cheaper - their Global Mail product uses DHL to the border, and then local postal services to your customer. Their pricing is also per gram (not per 100g) which made me suspect they would work out cheaper, but after creating a quick Excel sheet, I found out not:

weight	SAPO	PN (UK)	PN (USA)	PN (EU)	PN (Else)
300	30.65	118.2	120.9	122.4	132.6
350	93.2	137.9	141.05	142.8	154.7
400	93.2	157.6	161.2	163.2	176.8
450	116.5	177.3	181.35	183.6	198.9
500	116.5	197	201.5	204	221
550	139.8	216.7	221.65	224.4	243.1
600	139.8	236.4	241.8	244.8	265.2
650	163.1	256.1	261.95	265.2	287.3
700	163.1	275.8	282.1	285.6	309.4
750	186.4	295.5	302.25	306	331.5
800	186.4	315.2	322.4	326.4	353.6
850	209.7	334.9	342.55	346.8	375.7
900	209.7	354.6	362.7	367.2	397.8
950	233	374.3	382.85	387.6	419.9
1000	233	394	403	408	442

Note: weight in grams, prices in rands (ZAR).

The real question now is, will your customer think you are weird if you send lots of small 300g parcels? It is undoubtably the cheapest, but I guess more separate pieces means more chance of them getting lost. Hmmmm