Australia post and ebay

Just received a handmade vintage chess (50+ years old) set from England, over a 1000 miles away. I was amazed at the speed of the delivery. I bought it on 17th Feb. It took less than 10 days to get here by surface mail! Woah!!! And the delivery cost was about AUD$5.50 (B$2.30). Compare that to a book I bought from Frankston, Victoria, 2 hours drive from my place (also from ebay) which cost me $9! Australia Post is really strange.