BlueTaelon Posted February 27, 2013 Share Posted February 27, 2013 I need plain English which the USPS doesn't use :glare: I need to ship the last of our books since there isn't room in the car, there is space left in the box that I can put other stuff, does media mail only allow for bound printed matter for say 20% of the box with non books? or do I need to just stuff it with packing peanuts? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
milovany Posted February 27, 2013 Share Posted February 27, 2013 Stuff it with packing peanuts. Quoted from USPS.com: "The material sent must be educational media. It can’t contain advertising, video games, computer drives, or digital drives of any kind." It's understood to mean "or any non-educational items" as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arcadia Posted February 27, 2013 Share Posted February 27, 2013 Non books are not allowed. Charts and a small amount of unbounded printed material are allowed. USPS sometimes open up media mail to check that people are not "cheating". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tammyla Posted February 27, 2013 Share Posted February 27, 2013 No...I've had them ask to look in the box and once they asked for the exact contents. They wouldn't even allow a letter notecard to be included. :confused1: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest inoubliable Posted February 27, 2013 Share Posted February 27, 2013 USPS sometimes open up media mail to check that people are not "cheating". They reserve the right to rip open a package anywhere along the line and check, too. We found that out after a couple packages last year were taped shut with a postal notice on them about being inspected. The packages were all books ordered from Amazon for school. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elegantlion Posted February 28, 2013 Share Posted February 28, 2013 Skip media mail and use flat rate boxes. Better service, imo. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SarahW Posted February 28, 2013 Share Posted February 28, 2013 I knew a guy who shipped Media and wrapped the books in t-shirts. But even he said that he wouldn't risk doing that again. If you really want to avoid peanuts/bubble wrap/newspaper, the rattiest white rags you have laying around might pass inspection. I just hoard all the packing material that gets sent to me so I can re-use it in cases like this. With all of USPS's money troubles, they're doing more inspections these days, if my unscientific observation is anything to go by. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
milovany Posted February 28, 2013 Share Posted February 28, 2013 Skip media mail and use flat rate boxes. Better service, imo. This can double the cost of shipping, and a lot of buyers don't want to pay more than the minimum. I've sold with media mail for 10+ years and have never had any issues. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lady Marmalade Posted February 28, 2013 Share Posted February 28, 2013 I thought "media mail" was dropped from USPS when the price increases went into effect at the end of January? ETA: Hmm, Maybe not. https://www.usps.com/ship/media-mail.htm? But I swear I've gotten e-mails from E-bay several times in the last month that they've changed the media mail service to something different, so you might want to actually go to the PO and find out for sure what the new policies and rules are. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest inoubliable Posted February 28, 2013 Share Posted February 28, 2013 I thought "media mail" was dropped from USPS when the price increases went up at the end of January? Still available, it looks like. https://www.usps.com/ship/media-mail.htm I wonder if it was on the chopping block at one time, though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elegantlion Posted February 28, 2013 Share Posted February 28, 2013 This can double the cost of shipping, and a lot of buyers don't want to pay more than the minimum. I've sold with media mail for 10+ years and have never had any issues. I've used media mail for many years as well. I've had more than a few issues, including a few lost packages and one completely empty box (thankfully that was a paperbackswap book). I only use it on small items, valued less than 15.00. I would not trust an entire box of books shipping media mail, but that's just me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheAutumnOak Posted February 28, 2013 Share Posted February 28, 2013 I've used media mail for many years as well. I've had more than a few issues, including a few lost packages and one completely empty box (thankfully that was a paperbackswap book). I only use it on small items, valued less than 15.00. I would not trust an entire box of books shipping media mail, but that's just me. :iagree: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
milovany Posted February 28, 2013 Share Posted February 28, 2013 Still available, it looks like. https://www.usps.com.../media-mail.htm I wonder if it was on the chopping block at one time, though. Yes, still available. I just sent a package today. There used to be one called Bound Printed Matter that went by the wayside a couple of years ago. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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