Can Comics be shipped through the USPS as Media Rate

[tony5205]

Can anyone say definatively yes or no? Some clerks will accept packages for this rate and others say No...claim its "Magazines and has advertising" etc. Its been a crap shoot at the post offices I use and I'm tired of getting burnt on large shipments if I can in fact ship Media Rate. They end up using this other rate that maybe saves a dime called Printed Material but is a variable rate based on where its going by Zip Code so many times its about the same as First Class. Tonight at the 24/7 Post Office I figure it cost me an extra $40. I try to kkep my shipping cost to a minimum to my customers but its getting to be a losing proposition when the post office will not cooperate! Please advise and thanks for input Tony

[capt.steel]

Perhaps the US government (the CIA specifically) has been using their Federal Postal Offices as a testing ground for various types of drugs as they traditionally did with the armed forces (see Jacob's Ladder).
Maybe they pipe certain gases in through the HVAC system and see how long it takes a worker to crack. Then they do a work up on the employee's profile & physical status to see which drugs work best on which type of physical specimen in order to ultimately created the perfect mass murdering super soldier!

[heademup34]

from postmaster

Packages being mailed at the low-cost media mail rate through the U.S. Postal Service will get past the counter unopened. But before those hit the mail trucks en route to destinations, many will be opened and searched to ensure all items enclosed meet the strict criteria for media mail.

The U.S. Postal Service is seeking to find and properly charge for higher priced parcel post packages.

The crackdown on media mail fraud

[gallinator]

I've taken the time to get to know a few of the local P.O. workers over the past few years and it seems that many of them, whether it be in the field, on retail line or in the back or sorting facility, are there for years and either the work is so mind-numbingly boring or the attitude of the public is so tiresome that it is little wonder that they eventually snap. The federal benefits and retirement are such an enticement that it makes it difficult to leave voluntarily.

Waiters and waitresses usually have much shorter work stints or enjoy greater mobility, so the stress usually doesn't build to the breaking point.

[gallinator]

This has been ongoing for the better part of two years now. I've had several MM packages with comics opened before they reach me and I have yet to pay a different service rate.

[capt.steel]

the work is so mind-numbingly boring or the attitude of the public is so tiresome that it is little wonder that they eventually snap.

This may be true, but the same can be said about thousands of other jobs including other courier services. The same applies to almost all factory / production line work. Police Officers, Firefighters, EMT's, Security personnel, Hospital workers, Air Traffic Controllers all have jobs that include long periods of mind-numbing bordom, but at some point will include life-or-death moments of extremely high stress where the world is on their shoulders.
So why is the Postal Service singled out as having this exceptional rate of employees who snap in complete sprees of homicide.

You'll find isolated incidents of people snapping in all walks of life, but there's never been one single field in one signle company that has such a record of employees going mad!
I could see if they had a policy of only hiring former mental patients or what not, but there's got to be something really wrong in that organization to have so many homocidal incidents confined within it's company.

[capt.steel]

Here's an interesting article:
http://www.metroactive.com/papers/metro/08.06.98/cover/postal-9831.html

Although the USPS sounds like a horrible place to work in a lot of cases, it still sounds like most of the jobs I've already had.

Many jobs are high pressure, most are high stress, but when it gets too bad, people in most fields will either look for a new job or just quit as opposed to getting a weapon and blowing their co-workers away.

A lot of the "going postal" expression is contributed to media attention, but I think the most pertinent part of this article is that although the workplace homicide rate for Postal workers is slightly lower than that for other occupations, statistics don't acknowledge that "co-workers appear to be disproportionately responsible for homicides that occur in the Postal Service"--57 percent compared to 4 percent in other industries. Nationwide, most workplace violence relates to robberies, the kind of crime that gets convenience store workers and cabbies killed."

[gallinator]

I wouldn't be surprised to see that the difference compared to those other professions is the distince lack of power that USPS workers have. Everything is rigidly controlled and the slightest deviation from the norm is frowned upon.

[capt.steel]

But still, many businesses practice overbearing rigidity. Workers who can't take that end up quitting or getting fired. Why is the USPS one place where so many workers, instead of getting the classifieds & looking for a new job when they get fed up, instead go get fire arms to kill a bunch of co-workers and usually themselves?

I'm just saying the disproportionate numbers belie more than just a grueling workplace (since there are thousands of grueling workplaces that haven't become known for employee homicidal rampages.)

[gallinator]

Since this phenomenon has been established for a while, we must wonder if the USPS now attracts people with the proclivity towards homicidal rampages, eh?

[ringfinger1999]

It is possible.

[galactipus]

Can a semi-automatic be sent media mail?

[gallinator]

Not legally.

[galactipus]

Like they're really going to check.

[ringfinger1999]

Sometimes they do.

[da_lizard_of_ozz]

Without wading through all the responses, I will simply add my 2 cents worth.

According to postal regulations, comic books are NOT eligible to be shipped Media Mail, due to the fact that they contain advertising. While many post office locations may allow it, more and more are requiring that Media Mail packages be open for inspection, before being shipped.

If the package is opened and the contents are deemed ineligible for Media Mail, they are instead shipped Priority with postage due.

As for the discussion about 3/4 inch, that is for first class mail. First class has to be 1/4 inch in a rigid container or 3/4 inch at the thickest point. Add a couple styrofoam packing peanuts to a package will take care of that requirement, and not add to the weight.

Remember, it takes a lifetime to maintain a good reputation, and just a few minutes to destroy it.