Media Mail Comics & Magazines 3 3

[shadroch]

I've no idea why a company does what it does. If ebay has a side deal with the PO that allows it, that still doesn't mean anyone can do so. If such a side deal actually exists.

[ttfitz]

2 hours ago, shadroch said:

 

The PO issued a statement that comic books are not eligible for media mail. It doesn't say comic books with ads, it doesn't say comic books without ads, it says comic books. 

 

Actually, what it says is:

"Media Mail packages may not contain advertising. Comic books do not meet this standard."

Source - https://about.usps.com/notices/not121/not121_tech.htm

I would maintain that, given the second sentence about comics references the first, that a comic that did not contain ads would not be excluded.

It's not as cut and dried as you suggest. For the most part, yeah, comics have ads and thus are excluded. But there are exceptions.

EDIT - This is not to suggest that the Post Office might not send back a package containing comics which didn't have ads. But if they did, I believe it would do so mistakenly.

Edited April 25, 2021 by ttfitz
Clarification

[onlyweaknesskryptonite]

On 4/23/2021 at 6:48 PM, miraclemet said:

[Gaard]

The majority of the comics I buy off Ebay come via Media Mail.

[juniorMC]

On 4/24/2021 at 5:00 AM, HotKey said:

Can you read the dog?

U can learn from a dog

[juniorMC]

On 4/23/2021 at 4:38 PM, Qalyar said:

Media mail exists to provide a low-cost shipping rate for the transport of educational materials. The regulation establishing the service requires that the printed matter be free of advertisements (except for "incidental announcements" of other books or audio recordings in a work of the same type). In part, this was to prevent advertisers from shipping pamphlets of promotional material under the guise of being legitimate educational content. The vast majority of comic books include advertisements, to the extent that USPS even clarified that they are not eligible under the media mail regulations. Yes, lots and lots of comic books get shipped successfully via media mail. It's a lottery you don't want to win. Postal regulations state that the USPS may open and inspect media mail at any time, and may refuse delivery of improper contents, or hold them for postage due. Postal inspectors aren't dumb. If you're getting (or sending) obvious comic book shipments at the same time as media mail packages, sooner or later, they're going to start inspecting your media mail.

Wish shipping costs were lower in general? Everyone does. Wish comics qualified as media material for the lower-cost shipping rate? So does everyone else who has material they want to ship that isn't eligible for the media rate.

It seems silly that people still complain about it. It's like speeding. It's nice to get to where you're going faster than you should be able to. But that's not what's permitted, and if you get caught, there's a cost to be paid. What sucks with misusing media mail is that the USPS often tries to collect that cost from the addressee rather than the shipper.

I'm just shocked I got caught.  My only complaint is why is media mail only for educational material.  Cant they make it to include comics up to, say 1 or 2 lbs.  So we cant hundreds of books for $5, but we can ship 10 to 15  50 cent books and not have to charge $7 -$10 to do it they're light weight comics not heavy books and mags.  So just limit the weight when shipping these.  More of us could sell the cheep stuff for low shipping costs, buyers would b more apt to buy when the shipping  price is low and the PO would make a killing.  Seems like a win win for everybody.  Why hasn't anyone capitalized on this.  Do I have to do everything myself

[kav]

1 minute ago, juniorMC said:

I'm just shocked I got caught.  My only complaint is why is media mail only for educational material.  Cant they make it to include comics up to, say 1 or 2 lbs.  So we cant hundreds of books for $5, but we can ship 10 to 15  50 cent books and not have to charge $7 -$10 to do it they're light weight comics not heavy books and mags.  So just limit the weight when shipping these.  More of us could sell the cheep stuff for low shipping costs, buyers would b more apt to buy when the shipping  price is low and the PO would make a killing.  Seems like a win win for everybody.  Why hasn't anyone capitalized on this.  Do I have to do everything myself

also, textbooks should start carrying adverising.  This could be a huge income stream as textbooks usually change every single semester  They're like biannual periodicals, really.

[onlyweaknesskryptonite]

30 minutes ago, kav said:

also, textbooks should start carrying adverising.  This could be a huge income stream as textbooks usually change every single semester  They're like biannual periodicals, really.

Honestly this might not be a bad idea as if the get people to pay to put the ads in that could help bring the cost down. Textbooks can be insanely expensive. 

( Just bought a lot of my daughters college books , thankfully her scholarship pays for most of them . )