To show Australia Post and StarTrack rates in WooCommerce you need a plugin that talks to their systems, an API key, and for StarTrack a contracted account. Sendle is no longer an option: it stopped taking bookings on 11 January 2026.
Not as of October 2026. Power Retail reported on 12 January 2026 that Sendle's website said that as of 11 January 2026 it was halting all bookings for parcel pickup and delivery. Pickups booked from 12 January were cancelled, and parcels already in transit were delivered at the delivery partner's discretion, according to the customer email Power Retail described.
If your store still shows Sendle as a shipping method, remove it. Some plugin listings and integration pages may still describe the service as live, so do not trust a listing's age or install count as evidence that the carrier works. Check the checkout in test orders after any change.
The documentation for the ELEX WooCommerce Australia Post plugin, one commercial option, lists the credentials. You need an Australia Post API key, which applies to both contracted and non contracted accounts. For a contracted account you also enter an API password and account number and pick Live or Test mode. For StarTrack you tick the StarTrack account option and enter its own credentials, and a separate StarTrack API key can be used if you have one.
The same documentation says the API key can be shared between eParcel and StarTrack but the password and account number differ, so use the right set for each. It also states that to use StarTrack you need an Australia Post contracted account, and that StarTrack serves domestic Australian shipping only. Confirm key access and any fees with Australia Post before you commit.
The ELEX walkthrough runs through tabs for general settings, rates and services, label and tracking, and parcel packaging. You enable real time rates, choose which StarTrack services your account includes, decide how labels are saved and what tracking emails customers receive, and pick a packing method. It suggests adding a product to the cart to confirm StarTrack rates appear, and using the plugin's developer mode to troubleshoot.
Whatever plugin you choose, test with real product weights and dimensions. Live rates are only as good as the data in your catalogue, and a missing weight is the most common reason rates fail to appear. Check the plugin's page for its last update, WooCommerce compatibility and support terms before paying, since carrier APIs change.
Not every store needs live rates. If your products are similar in size, WooCommerce's built in shipping zones and flat or table rates are simple and predictable, and there is no external service to fail at checkout. Our WooCommerce shipping setup guide covers zones, classes and free shipping thresholds. If you set rates by state or postcode, check your carrier's own price list so you are not undercharging remote areas.
Prices shown at checkout also interact with tax. If you are registered for GST, read our GST guide for selling online and the WooCommerce tax setup guide so shipping is treated consistently.
Live rates mean your server calls an outside service while a customer waits. If that service is slow, your cart and checkout wait too, and a PHP time limit that is set too low can end the request early so no rates show. Label generation and bulk shipment creation from the admin area are similar, longer jobs.
Look at your host's PHP execution time and memory settings, and test checkout under realistic load. Our WooCommerce hosting requirements and checkout optimisation guide explain what to check. HostBible runs WordPress hosting on LiteSpeed servers, and our team can move an existing store across for free.
We migrate WooCommerce stores for free on every hosting plan, testing on a staging copy while your current store stays live.
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