How to ship via Media Mail and make it a viable shipping option?

[1Cool]

I ran into a ton of issues in my last sales thread in terms of media mail. I had 4 packages opened and assessed extra postage. I ended up reimbursing everyone's extra shipping cost to make sure there was no unhappy customers. I did give the option to ship the books via priority mail but at about double the shipping cost compared to media mail. Everyone of course went with the media option since the books were mostly dollar books and TPBs and sometimes it doesn't make sense to buy $20 in dollar books to just spend $13 to have them shipped.

 

I'm contemplating offering media mail shipping for larger low cost packages but at the buyers risk. I charge actual shipping cost so it doesn't matter to me if the person goes with Priority or media - I just don't want to offer a discounted shipping option to have to pay the extra if the package is inspected. Would an option which puts the risk on the buyers work or do you think it is an issue waiting to happen.

[lizards2]

why don't you just do the right thing and quit shipping comics media mail? :shrug:

[Chip Cataldo]

I wouldn't even tempt it. I've found that charging $3.99 for a single book and then a flat $5.99 for up to 10 books has worked very well. Above that, go Priority only. I wouldn't even mess with Media Mail at this point...the number of packages inspected is only going to increase.

 

Peace,

 

Chip

[shadroch]

Anytime I ship media, its at the buyers risk. They chooses their option, they take their chances. Just as I do, when I get stuff sent media.

[spracknetch23]

I stopped shipping media mail for this very reason, but still will do it for TPBs since it's within the media mail rules.

I have my Ebay set up for calculated priority, or first class if it's 13oz or less.

 

For some reason I have a 4.9 star rating with shipping costs, even though it's calculated and I don't charge extra for shipping materials.

 

[RockMyAmadeus]

why don't you just do the right thing and quit shipping comics media mail? :shrug:

 

Because there's nothing wrong with shipping old comics via Media Mail....?

 

:shrug:

[SquareChaos]

why don't you just do the right thing and quit shipping comics media mail? :shrug:

 

Because there's nothing wrong with shipping old comics via Media Mail....?

 

:shrug:

 

I see the irony in this but... the rules I have read for Media Mail prohibit monthlies from being shipped that way, even if they are old.

 

Trades, no question, ship em media mail, it is legal as far as I can tell.

 

If you read the rules on Media Mail, there are some gray areas for sure, but floppies is not one of them.

[SquareChaos]

More info: https://about.usps.com/notices/not121/not121_tech.htm

 

Media Mail packages may not contain advertising. Comic books do not meet this standard. Books may contain incidental announcements of other books and sound recordings may contain incidental announcements of other sound recordings. In accordance with standards in the Mailing Standards of the United States Postal Service, Domestic Mail Manual (DMM), Section 170, Media Mail packages must have a delivery address and the sender’s return address and are subject to inspection by the Postal Service™. 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.

[RockMyAmadeus]

More info: https://about.usps.com/notices/not121/not121_tech.htm

 

Media Mail packages may not contain advertising. Comic books do not meet this standard. Books may contain incidental announcements of other books and sound recordings may contain incidental announcements of other sound recordings. In accordance with standards in the Mailing Standards of the United States Postal Service, Domestic Mail Manual (DMM), Section 170, Media Mail packages must have a delivery address and the senders return address and are subject to inspection by the Postal Service. 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.

 

As stated in other threads, this is a notice, written by someone at the USPS internally, that carries no authority.

 

The USPS regulations are contained in the Domestic Mail Manual, or "DMM", which contains the official regulations the USPS operates by.

 

In other words, if it's not in the DMM...it's not binding.

[SquareChaos]

More info: https://about.usps.com/notices/not121/not121_tech.htm

 

Media Mail packages may not contain advertising. Comic books do not meet this standard. Books may contain incidental announcements of other books and sound recordings may contain incidental announcements of other sound recordings. In accordance with standards in the Mailing Standards of the United States Postal Service, Domestic Mail Manual (DMM), Section 170, Media Mail packages must have a delivery address and the senders return address and are subject to inspection by the Postal Service. 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.

 

As stated in other threads, this is a notice, written by someone at the USPS internally, that carries no authority.

 

The USPS regulations are contained in the Domestic Mail Manual, or "DMM", and is the official regulations the USPS operates by.

 

In other words, if it's not in the DMM...it's not binding.

 

 

I have never heard of them not being assessed extra fees if they are examined and found to be floppies.

 

Do we know their rules better than they do? :shrug:

 

Possible, but... it is on their website. Is there something on their website that explicitly states comics are acceptable?

[Barth]

I'm in the Cleveland area too and the postal employees here are very strict when it comes to media mail. I've had a few come back to me and since then I ship everything over 13oz priority.

[1Cool]

I stopped shipping media mail for this very reason, but still will do it for TPBs since it's within the media mail rules.

I have my Ebay set up for calculated priority, or first class if it's 13oz or less.

 

For some reason I have a 4.9 star rating with shipping costs, even though it's calculated and I don't charge extra for shipping materials.

 

One of boxes only had a TPB in it but I can't exactly ask my customer to go debate with the post office before getting their books. I definetely blame the lack of a clear ruling from the post office for most of these issues. Even their own employees have no clue what to charge.

[SquareChaos]

I stopped shipping media mail for this very reason, but still will do it for TPBs since it's within the media mail rules.

I have my Ebay set up for calculated priority, or first class if it's 13oz or less.

 

For some reason I have a 4.9 star rating with shipping costs, even though it's calculated and I don't charge extra for shipping materials.

 

One of boxes only had a TPB in it but I can't exactly ask my customer to go debate with the post office before getting their books. I definetely blame the lack of a clear ruling from the post office for most of these issues. Even their own employees have no clue what to charge.

 

Come on, it has an ISBN... yeah, that is on them. There is no question on trades. No question by any reading of the rule as far as I am concerned.

[youmechooz]

I ran into a ton of issues in my last sales thread in terms of media mail. I had 4 packages opened and assessed extra postage. I ended up reimbursing everyone's extra shipping cost to make sure there was no unhappy customers. I did give the option to ship the books via priority mail but at about double the shipping cost compared to media mail. Everyone of course went with the media option since the books were mostly dollar books and TPBs and sometimes it doesn't make sense to buy $20 in dollar books to just spend $13 to have them shipped.

 

I'm contemplating offering media mail shipping for larger low cost packages but at the buyers risk. I charge actual shipping cost so it doesn't matter to me if the person goes with Priority or media - I just don't want to offer a discounted shipping option to have to pay the extra if the package is inspected. Would an option which puts the risk on the buyers work or do you think it is an issue waiting to happen.

4 people? Wow. I have had that happen to me 1 time. Thousands upon thousands of packages sent media mail and only had it happen once. You ran a sales thread and it happened 4 times within that one thread. These odds are terrible. Not trying to say the buyers are lying, but did you get proof they had to pay?

[MedicAR]

http://pe.usps.com/text/dmm300/173.htm#1113611

 

 

4.0 Content Standards for Media Mail

 

….4.1Qualified Items

….….Only these items may be mailed at the Media Mail prices:

 

…….…a. Books, including books issued to supplement other books, of at least eight

….……printed pages, consisting wholly of reading matter or scholarly bibliography,

…….…or reading matter with incidental blank spaces for notations and containing

….……no advertising matter other than incidental announcements of books.

….……Advertising includes paid advertising and the publishers' own advertising in

…….…display, classified, or editorial style.

 

 

My postmaster does not differentiate between an ad from today or one from the Civil War. He said the language doesn't state that the ad must be current, it simply states "advertising."

 

Also, they are not always gentle when they open the items since they were not mailed as collectibles but rather as reading material. When I complained about damage, they pointed out that it could still be read, which was true.

 

Just spend the extra money and pass it on to the buyer. I certainly don't mind paying extra for the proper shipping and making sure it gets to me in the same condition is was shipped in.

[MedicAR]

I ran into a ton of issues in my last sales thread in terms of media mail. I had 4 packages opened and assessed extra postage. I ended up reimbursing everyone's extra shipping cost to make sure there was no unhappy customers. I did give the option to ship the books via priority mail but at about double the shipping cost compared to media mail. Everyone of course went with the media option since the books were mostly dollar books and TPBs and sometimes it doesn't make sense to buy $20 in dollar books to just spend $13 to have them shipped.

 

I'm contemplating offering media mail shipping for larger low cost packages but at the buyers risk. I charge actual shipping cost so it doesn't matter to me if the person goes with Priority or media - I just don't want to offer a discounted shipping option to have to pay the extra if the package is inspected. Would an option which puts the risk on the buyers work or do you think it is an issue waiting to happen.

4 people? Wow. I have had that happen to me 1 time. Thousands upon thousands of packages sent media mail and only had it happen once. You ran a sales thread and it happened 4 times within that one thread. These odds are terrible. Not trying to say the buyers are lying, but did you get proof they had to pay?

 

My post office knows I'm into comics. Anything shipped to me via media is 95% sure to be opened. I tried shipping out once and ran into the same problem.

 

 

[youmechooz]

I ran into a ton of issues in my last sales thread in terms of media mail. I had 4 packages opened and assessed extra postage. I ended up reimbursing everyone's extra shipping cost to make sure there was no unhappy customers. I did give the option to ship the books via priority mail but at about double the shipping cost compared to media mail. Everyone of course went with the media option since the books were mostly dollar books and TPBs and sometimes it doesn't make sense to buy $20 in dollar books to just spend $13 to have them shipped.

 

I'm contemplating offering media mail shipping for larger low cost packages but at the buyers risk. I charge actual shipping cost so it doesn't matter to me if the person goes with Priority or media - I just don't want to offer a discounted shipping option to have to pay the extra if the package is inspected. Would an option which puts the risk on the buyers work or do you think it is an issue waiting to happen.

4 people? Wow. I have had that happen to me 1 time. Thousands upon thousands of packages sent media mail and only had it happen once. You ran a sales thread and it happened 4 times within that one thread. These odds are terrible. Not trying to say the buyers are lying, but did you get proof they had to pay?

 

My post office knows I'm into comics. Anything shipped to me via media is 95% sure to be opened. I tried shipping out once and ran into the same problem.

 

That sucks i guess. My post office just knows that i ship a lot.

[1Cool]

I ran into a ton of issues in my last sales thread in terms of media mail. I had 4 packages opened and assessed extra postage. I ended up reimbursing everyone's extra shipping cost to make sure there was no unhappy customers. I did give the option to ship the books via priority mail but at about double the shipping cost compared to media mail. Everyone of course went with the media option since the books were mostly dollar books and TPBs and sometimes it doesn't make sense to buy $20 in dollar books to just spend $13 to have them shipped.

 

I'm contemplating offering media mail shipping for larger low cost packages but at the buyers risk. I charge actual shipping cost so it doesn't matter to me if the person goes with Priority or media - I just don't want to offer a discounted shipping option to have to pay the extra if the package is inspected. Would an option which puts the risk on the buyers work or do you think it is an issue waiting to happen.

4 people? Wow. I have had that happen to me 1 time. Thousands upon thousands of packages sent media mail and only had it happen once. You ran a sales thread and it happened 4 times within that one thread. These odds are terrible. Not trying to say the buyers are lying, but did you get proof they had to pay?

 

I don't doubt that they all got assessed since they are all trustworthy buyers and I saw a couple of the postal notices. I think it was a couple postal employees at my local office. I lodged a couple complaints with them since they are complete insufficiently_thoughtful_persons. I can see them opening all of my packages to get back at me. I'll drop my package off at another post office to see if I get different results.

[Scturo]

Don't see an issue with media mail. The buyer knows the risk when they opt for it. Haven't had any problems yet.

[faster friends]

My postmaster knows I ship comics and she never says anything. I think she likes the revenue coming to her branch. She even keeps boxes for me to use for shipping.

 

Definiltely no standard between postal branches.