BakersDozen Posted July 16, 2019 Share Posted July 16, 2019 A friend was told this when she went to the Post Office today: "The curriculum I wanted to mail (to a buyer) does not qualify for book rate. Anything that is primarily for writing in -- even crossword puzzle books, Sudoku, etc. -- is not a "book." Has anyone else had this happen? I looked on the USPS site and while there is a clear list of what qualifies for media mail it seems that workbooks are ambiguous. I've shipped curriculum, including "write in" books, for years and never had an issue. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arcadia Posted July 16, 2019 Share Posted July 16, 2019 When I sent my friend workbooks, the staff did ask whether it was a set of curriculum (with the textbooks and CDs) and said I could be charged normal rates if found to not qualify for media mail. Mine was a boxed set so was quite obviously a full set of curriculum for an elementary school kid. The ones I received via media mail were either textbook only or textbook with workbook set. “Upon such inspection, matter not eligible for the Media Mail rate may be assessed at the proper price and sent to the recipient postage due, or the sender may be contacted for additional postage.” https://about.usps.com/notices/not121/not121_tech.htm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
katilac Posted July 16, 2019 Share Posted July 16, 2019 I've never had that problem. Did she bring it in to ask, or did they choose her box to open and check? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tenaj Posted July 16, 2019 Share Posted July 16, 2019 I've specifically asked and have been told by several different post offices that anything educational qualifies. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J-rap Posted July 16, 2019 Share Posted July 16, 2019 The post office definition is a little unclear, but I'd consider it a type of book. I've often received and sent workbooks as media mail. I guess I don't specifically tell the post office "This is a workbook" when I'm sending one via media mail, but it never occurred to me to do that. I thought it curious that comic books, specifically, do not count as media mail. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
katilac Posted July 16, 2019 Share Posted July 16, 2019 2 hours ago, J-rap said: I thought it curious that comic books, specifically, do not count as media mail. A throwback to the 1950s hysteria over comic books causing juvenile delinquency? 1 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miss Tick Posted July 16, 2019 Share Posted July 16, 2019 My impression of media mail has been that it resembles TSA procedures - somewhat random and staff person specific, along with a strong dose of profiling. (Side eye emoji) 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alisoncooks Posted July 16, 2019 Share Posted July 16, 2019 Well, gee. I ship workbooks Media Mail all the time. (And I don't plan on stopping, either.) My boxes are sealed when I go to the USPS, and I say "media mail" and they say "just books?" and I say "yep" and everyone's happy. 😉 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miss Tick Posted July 16, 2019 Share Posted July 16, 2019 57 minutes ago, alisoncooks said: My boxes are sealed when I go to the USPS, and I say "media mail" and they say "just books?" and I say "yep" and everyone's happy. I had a friend do this and the postal worker cut open her box and told her the educational materials she was shipping were not media mail. It was shocking. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
katilac Posted July 16, 2019 Share Posted July 16, 2019 4 hours ago, SusanC said: I had a friend do this and the postal worker cut open her box and told her the educational materials she was shipping were not media mail. It was shocking. Yes, they can open media mail boxes at any time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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