media mail is NOT for toys

[diosoth]

The US postal service has been strict on media mail shipments, and has been making a habit of routinely inspecting packages to make sure people don't send "unapproved" items using it as a shipping method to save money. Larger packages are especially more prone to a random opening and inspection.

So go figure, I pay $30 shipped for an item on eBay, which instead of being delivered, I get a notice that I owe almost $8 postage on it and that I can pick it up Monday. The seller in question was sent a photo of the slip and refunded the difference, and said his son had been helping with mailing packages and probably goofed, but no doubt it went by media mail for dirt cheap and got inspected at the PO this morning. That's how I could think to explain an $8 price difference on a larger toy.

This happened to me a few years back, a seller sent me a game console by media mail and I had to pay $10 postage on it.

If someone suggests you send their goods media mail, decline and insist they pay first class or Priority. If a seller offers it, decline. If it's inspected you're going to be asked to pay for a higher postage rate before you can get the package. Now, I'm sure someone will say "but I've sent lots of thigns media mail with no trouble", well, the USPS does inspect packages at random and eventually you'll have a buyer on you for postage owed because of it.

[pukingdog]

Yep, educational materials only, and some folks will still try other stuff. Personally, I like the Postal system, they do a lot for a little, They have enough people in high places trying to snuff them out, without the people they serve adding to the problems by being cheapskates.

[diosoth]

"Printed matter", mainly books and magazines. I think VHS and DVD only count if it's considered educational or instructional for schools or workplace training. This means that DVDs and video games aren't even eligible.

For that matter, I wonder if that guy who got busted on the obscene manga charge a few years ago had his stuff sent by media mail, it seems the most likely reason his stuff was opened and looked through.

[duck of death]

Here are the restrictions directly from the USPS website:

* The material sent must be educational media. It can’t contain advertising, video games, computer drives, or digital drives of any kind.
* Media MailŪ can be examined by postal staff to determine if the right price has been paid. If the package is wrapped in a way that makes it impossible to examine, it will be charged the First-Class™ rate.
* Maximum weight is 70 lbs.
* Maximum combined length and girth of 108". Meaning it can’t be larger than the combined measurement of the longest side and the distance around the thickest part.

Note the restriction on advertising. That would actually rule out most magazines. There is no restriction on digital (or analog) media except video games and apparently things like thumb drives, so dvds/cds are allowed. Of course, for most eligible items under 13oz. you might as well use 1st class shipping as the price is still very low if you are shipping within the US and you should get your stuff a lot faster than media mail anyway.

[diosoth]

I'm a bit surprised the online restrictions say it must be "educational", as it would totally rule out "work of fiction" books and any comic book. I mean, this was originally set up as a cheaper rate for mailing books.

Then again, the local postmaster says it is generally for books, so it seems they can't really fully decide what the restrictions are.

[diosoth]

After a call to my local PO to arrange re-delivery on this, I found they didn't ship by media mail, but instead whoever printed the Paypal postage label entered the shipping weight as 8 ounces, and the PO could tell there was no way it was just that, and it weighs about 24 ounces.

This is also getting to be a problem- people without postage scales can print up a shipping label at home through Paypal by manually entering mailing weight, and some people are entering the weight low to save money. I had one buyer tell me to do this a couple months back because he didn't want to pay actual postage on a large toy(I refused- I don't even have a printer at home, I do all my mailing at the PO). Doing that intentionally is mail fraud and while you might get some packages through, large ones are going to red flag. And even with a scale it's possible to fake by weighing one item and putting the label on another.

I mean, it's one thing to guess a small item is 5 ounces when it's really 6, but my local postmaster said this is becoming more of a problem. The media mail issue is also still ongoing as he said he's caught people mailing fishing poles and other large items using that service.

I find many people are honest when dealing with this but it really only takes the small handful of dishonest ones to ruin it for everyone.

[duck of death]

I do have postal scales and a postage printing program (Endicia) and can't imagine trying to do large volumes of postage without them. The weighing thing can be a bit tricky in that even digital scales aren't always completely accurate so I can see the post office not freaking out over something being 3 vs. 4 ozs, especially since that is well within the 13oz 1st class range, but no way are they going to take 1st class rates for something that should be charged at the 2lb priority mail price!

With media mail, I suspect they give books and movies and even comic books lot of latitude because Harry Potter and Indiana Jones and X-Men are educational if you are taking a class on media studies or cultural history. There are plenty of serious English classes that use popular literature and comic books so the educational can come from how it is used rather than just what it looks like on the surface. Fish poles though...not so much!