Does Children talking flash cards toy set qualify for media mail?

[sbdpquality]

I am just starting to sell on eBay, and trying to figure out how to choose shipping, as that eats bulk of the margin by listing as free shipping in order to show on higher ranking in eBay. 
I need to mail children's talking flash cards set, and looks like it might qualify for media mail, but again they say media mail is quite restrictive. Wondering if anyone has any idea on how to ship, and if at all possible to ship as media mail?

[kensgiftshop]

Can't see the listing, but don't think it qualifies for Media Mail.

[slippinjimmy]

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@sbdpquality wrote:

I am just starting to sell on eBay, and trying to figure out how to choose shipping, as that eats bulk of the margin by listing as free shipping in order to show on higher ranking in eBay. 
I need to mail children's talking flash cards set, and looks like it might qualify for media mail, but again they say media mail is quite restrictive. Wondering if anyone has any idea on how to ship, and if at all possible to ship as media mail?

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They do not! Ground Advantage is your cheapest USPS option.

[1786davycrockett]

@sbdpquality 

The talking cards themselves may qualify for USPS Media, but not the machine upon which they might be played (which would need to be shipped as Ground Advantage, at the least expensive method).

The cards may qualify under "Sound recordings and video recordings," although it may be stretching the definition.

Why not take some samples in to your local post office, to receive a final judgement from your local postmaster supervisor?

[inhawaii]

Answer: No.

[nobody*s_perfect]

Here's a chart that USPS put together for staff reference. It says that flash cards are eligible, it even cites the ruling.  But I share the other poster's reservations about the "talking" aspect of the cards.  Is that a separate instrument, or is it part of each card?  If there's a separate device, that would not be eligible.

https://liteblue.usps.gov/news/link/2013/04apr/Media-Mail-Guidelines.htm

[ten_o_nine]

I really don't know why USPS still offers media mail.  the purpose of that service ended with the start of the internet back in the 90s, it needs to be treated as regular mail, USPS needs to look at outdated services and eliminate them for cutting costs, instead of just raising rates.

[1786davycrockett]

@nobody*s_perfect 

@sbdpquality 

Flash Cards-instructional

Yes

Customer Support Ruling # PS 017

That sounds very definitive to me -- at least for the cards themselves, as well as under "Sound recordings."

But the electronic player for the "talking flash cards" would NOT be USPS Media.

But I'd still like confirmation from the local postmaster.

[onefootflippers]

They definitely don't qualify for media mail.  Assuming you have this or similar.

The player makes them not qualify. 

Also, they don't sell anyway. There are 27 sellers out there with quantity listings on them right now, only 4 of them sold last month between all 27 sellers, and most of those are shipping directly from China where they can ship the item at half the price you can.

I would put them all into one lot and unload them in the wholesale lots category.

[1786davycrockett]

@ten_o_nine 

"I really don't know why USPS still offers media mail.  the purpose of that service ended with the start of the internet back in the 90s"

If you are referring to the availability of "electronic" books on the internet, that applies only to "public domain" books (ie, those written before 1928), as well as many (but not ALL) books written since the mid-1990s.

Thus, there is a sizable gap between 1928 and approximately 1995 of books which can NOT be "read" on the internet.

Additionally -- there are tens of thousands of books (and very likely more) published before 1928 which have yet to become available on the internet; plus hundreds of thousands of post-1995 books which the publishing companies (and/or the authors themselves) have refused to re-release electronically.

And I'm hoping that you don't actually believe that people don't read books anymore?!?

As long as there are individuals who wish to read out-of-print and  internet-inaccessible material, USPS Media will remain as a viable mailing alternative.

[ten_o_nine]

@1786davycrockett 

It really doesn't matter; people are very educated now, and we are not trying to combat illiteracy.

It's a service that was needed a hundred years ago, people can pay another $2 to have it shipped regular mail. like anything else they buy online.

[1786davycrockett]

@ten_o_nine 

"It really doesn't matter; people are very educated now, and we are not trying to combat illiteracy."

Oh, aren't we?

And "very educated" seems to be entirely relative -- particularly in the United States in the 21st Century.

I have never encountered so many misspelled words, or grammatically incorrect sentences, or improper uses (and abuses) of punctuation marks, or perversions of the rules of capitalization, as I have on eBay.

In the "combat" to fight illiteracy, it is obvious that we have lost.

[chapeau-noir]

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@ten_o_nine wrote:

@1786davycrockett 

It really doesn't matter; people are very educated now, and we are not trying to combat illiteracy.

It's a service that was needed a hundred years ago, people can pay another $2 to have it shipped regular mail. like anything else they buy online.

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This country ranks about 125th out of 195 countries for literacy - right around Oman, etc. This is disgraceful. The stats boiled down: On average, 79% of U.S. adults nationwide are literate, 21% of adults are illiterate. 54% of adults have a literacy below a 6th-grade level (20% are below 5th-grade level). Our low levels of literacy cost something like 2 trillion dollars a year.

Everything is NOT online.

[wastingtime101]

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@1786davycrockett wrote:

Flash Cards-instructional

Yes

Customer Support Ruling # PS 017

That sounds very definitive to me -- at least for the cards themselves, as well as under "Sound recordings."

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Did you read the ruling PS 017?

https://pe.usps.com/text/csr/PS-017.htm

https://pe.usps.com/text/dmm300/173.htm#ep1113509

[1786davycrockett]

@wastingtime101 

"Did you read the ruling PS 017?"

Yes, I have.

The information which I had provided in #8 on this thread was an excerpt from https://liteblue.usps.gov/news/link/2013/04apr/Media-Mail-Guidelines.htm