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UNDERSTANDING USPS MEDIA MAIL
Media Mail® is an affordable way to mail books, film, play scripts, sound recordings, recorded video tapes, printed music, loose-leaf pages and binders consisting of medical information, and recorded computer-readable media (such as CDs, DVDs, and diskettes). The US Post Office offers its consumers numerous services, but for the many millions who've stood in line at the post office trying to differentiate what the various services are, the posters and price boards really don’t seem to give a specific understanding. Therefore, for those who are entirely unaware of it or for those who use it on a regular basis, I hope to explain how you can get the most from Media Mail.
First off, Media Mail is a very affordable service. You're charged by the pound; for instance, perhaps I sell two textbooks, each totaling a little over 3.2 pounds. With packaging, my total weight is not likely to exceed 7.0 pounds (see table below: Media Mail Rates). USPS would simply charge the cost of 7.0 pounds… a measly $4.17. Such a relatively simple system allows you to easily gauge the weight of your packages with your hand as ounces are immaterial; of course, this might take a little practice. For those of you selling books, the ISBN will allow you to determine weight (and dimensions) of text; simply find same text on eBay or just plug the ISBN into Amazon’s or Barnes & Noble’s website to find the total book weight. Unlike other services where cost is partly determined by zip code, cost of Media Mail is the same to any location. Sending package across the country costs no more than sending it to your nearest neighbor; thus, calculating a sum is much easier, and thus you can confidently list the exact price of shipping for your buyer.
Media Mail Rates (Domestic)
Weight not over (pounds) 1.0 2.0 3.0 4.0 5.0 6.0 7.0 8.0 9.0 10.0
Rate ($) 2.13 2.47 2.81 3.15 3.49 3.83 4.17 4.51 4.85 5.19
In terms of delivery time, USPS says Media Mail may take anywhere from 2-9 days, so on the upside, if distance is relatively close and post office sends out its Media Mail early in the day, a package could arrive just as fast were it sent Priority Mail. Numerous customers of mine have left feedback saying how quickly package arrived. Nonetheless, like any good businessperson, you don’t want to misinform customer should they ask about transit time, and you more or less should espouse eBay’s disclaimer if a customer complains that their item hasn’t arrived yet: "Sellers are not responsible for service transit time. Transit times are provided by the carrier, exclude weekends and holidays, and may vary with package origin and destination, particularly during peak periods." However, you should be willing to tell buyer the send off date (postmark), so they can gauge the maximum amount of time. I also think it’s a good idea to direct a buyer to USPS website, where they can use postage calculator to determine estimated delivery time. In my experience, I’ve found Media Mail averages about five days.
Media mail is clearly a great deal price-wise, but there is another huge key difference between Media Mail and any other service: liability. The reason you’re paying so much less is that the Post Office will assume NO LIABILITY for packages whose destination addresses cannot be located. As a consumer, you’re taking something of a risk because the undirected package WILL NOT make it back to you; in fact, USPS will discard your package if they cannot locate its destination address, meaning your return address means nothing once the "Media Mail" or "Book Rate" stamp leaves its imprint on your package. I’ve never had such happen, yet that doesn’t mean I ignore the possibility. Usually, in "Buyer Instructions" I ask that buyer be certain of their listed mailing address (if they opt for Media Mail). Another way to prevent loss would be insurance. USPS insurance is quite affordable (see table below), and adding it to your media mail rate, especially when package contents are expensive, will still bring you nowhere near the Priority Mail price.
Fee Insurance Coverage
$1.65 $0.01 to $50
$2.05 $50.01 to $100
$2.45 $100.01 to $200
$4.60 $200.01 to $300
$5.50 $300.01 to $400
$6.40 $400.01 to $500
$7.30 $500.01 to $600
As a seller, it may be wise to offer insurance to buyer at checkout for very expensive items, yet if buyer doesn’t opt for insurance and you have doubts about them (perhaps a low percentage rating, perhaps a high percentage rating but only as seller, etc.)—then just be willing to pay insurance on your own. Simply put, better safe than sorry.
A service that IS ALWAYS wise to use with Media Mail is Delivery Confirmation; for $0.75 you give yourself a decent amount of protection, and you can keep a buyer from pestering you about delivery time. By sending buyer the confirmation number (I usually contact buyer with confirmation number the day I mail package), you will show them just when you had mailed package (hopefully in your specified "handling time"). Also, giving the number to the buyer will allow them to determine what city their package is currently in, which should hopefully alleviate some of their concern. Here’s an actual Delivery Confirmation number from a recent sale (notice that shipment was completed within two days—the minimum delivery time):
Label/Receipt Number: 0304 1560 0006 9327 XXXX
Delivered, August 26, 2006, 9:34 am, ANAHEIM, CA 92801
Enroute, August 25, 2006, 9:59 am, BELL, CA 90201
Acceptance, August 24, 2006, 3:34 pm, IRVINE, CA 92619
Another reason to use Delivery Confirmation, a more important one, is that it helps to protect against buyer fraud: you’ll eventually know if package ever reached its destination. I feel the Delivery Confirmation sticker alone is enough to discourage any malfeasance, but should buyer perpetrate a scheme, you have viable evidence if in fact you have confirmation of delivery. Finally, if package doesn’t make it to destination, then you know that up to four things could be true: one, address buyer gave you was wrong; two, address is right, but you recorded it wrong (not a worry if you print your shipping labels); three, post office made a mistake (this one is not nearly as likely as the other two possibilities); four, someone (not the buyer) stole the package. If you can eliminate the first two possibilities, then one of the latter two is very likely to be the case. If you’ve insured package, your Delivery Confirmation receipt is all the proof you need to submit a claim for reimbursement from USPS (note that insurance covers loss and damage).
Here’s an example of the savings in using Media Mail over Priority Mail:
Say you want to send a set of videotapes that total 2.5 pounds with delivery confirmation (for sake of discussion, let’s ignore weight of packaging material). Say tapes had cost you a trifling sum and you made a modest profit in selling them, so you don’t bother with insurance. (I’m using the postal calculator available on at USPS website.)
Comparison of rates to/from Fullerton, CA to/from Boston, MA
Media Mail®: $2.81 + $0.75 = $3.56
Priority Mail®: $10.55 + $0.65* = $11.20
(*Delivery Confirmation is $0.10 cheaper with Priority Mail)
Comparison of rates to/from Fullerton, CA to from San Francisco, CA
Media Mail®: $2.81 + $0.75 = $3.56
Priority Mail®: $6.40 + $0.65 = $7.05
Averaging the cost of Priority Mail from these two examples (11.20 + 7.05/2 = 9.13; 3.56/9.13 = 39.0%), it’s clear that Media Mail is in most instances going to be less than 50% of the total cost for Priority Mail. It should be obvious that the heavier the package, the greater the savings. For instance, notice the huge difference in postage rates for a fairly large biology book weighing 5.75 pounds:
Comparison of rates to/from Fullerton, CA to/from Anchorage, AK
Media Mail®: $3.83 + $0.75 = $4.58
Priority Mail®: $16.05 + $0.65 = $16.70
(An important note: There’s another form of Priority Mail that is much cheaper: Priority Mail Flat Rate Envelope/Box… I won’t go into particulars here, but the simple rule is this: weight of package doesn’t matter; if you can fit item into the dimensions of their specified envelope or box, you’re charged one simple rate [$4.60 for flat rate envelope; $8.95 for flat rate box]. For more information about this form of mail visit a very popular guide by mark1vws: http://reviews.ebay.com/TIPS-SHIPPING-USPS-70-POUNDS-FOR-4-05-YES-YOU-CAN_W0QQugidZ10000000000083666.)
Media Mail is a very affordable service, possibly the most affordable one available when compared to all major delivery companies. Offering Media Mail as a shipping choice may be the difference between getting a bid or not getting a bid. However, it’s also important to offer more than one choice; I offer a minimum of two shipping choices: usually Media Mail and Priority Mail (cost of each reflects addition of Delivery Confirmation). If you’re not sure whether your particular media would qualify, inquire at your local post office… you WON’T be wasting your time!
One final consideration: you should be aware of a few limitations—it’s unlikely they’ll pose any problems for most sellers:
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