educating the postal clerk
Today I told my friend the postal clerk that I was going to surprise him and I did because I handed him a big box to go Ground Advantage. He has always known me as a media mail girl. I said it was manga. He had no idea about it and started to check his materials and I assured him that manga go Ground Advantage or Priority and graphic novels Media Mail. And this guy is really sharp and on his game. I guess those clerks just have way too much to know.
31 comments
onefootflipper
·2 years agoAre you buying your postage at the counter?
keziak
OP2 years agoI tend to ship in the lobby when I want extra services, in this case Signature Confirmation. I think this was the first time I did that with a box going Ground Advantage. I was in for a jolt when I realized it cost way more at the counter than through ebay. Media Mail doesn't work that way. No matter how long I do this work I keep getting an education, some times the hard way. : - 0 In the future I will just buy it through ebay.
lux.ra_14
·2 years agoYou can add SC or other services when buying labels on eBay or elsewhere online.
No need for a clerk at the counter, other than to have them accept your pre-paid packages.
12345jamesstamps
·2 years agoManga...usually is Japanese comics in a book form...with no advertising.
12345jamesstamps
·2 years agoNo pun intended...but Media Mail can be faster sometimes than with something with tracking...Tracking has to be very slow these days...anything with tracking.
pjcdn2005
·2 years agoMedia Mail has tracking.
12345jamesstamps
·2 years agoI haven't used it in a long time.
So, not using any eBay shipping labels or any shipping services...but just dropping off a book at the post office and going the cheapest way there...telling the clerk it is "Media Mail" ...it will have tracking? I mailed something the other day and paid extra for tracking because it was like a few dollars more....and it could have gone as a book...which it was?
fern*wood
·2 years agoYes, media mail has tracking. If the something you mailed the other day was a book, yes it could have gone media mail as a book. Shame on your postal clerk for not telling you that if the item you paid more to get tracking was a book.
wastingtime101
·2 years agoWhat was the item exactly? How many pages? What was the content? What was the title?
Was it a traditional book or was it a book of stamps or an album of stamps?
Generally speaking, books qualify for Media Mail and MM does include tracking by default. But not all books qualify for MM.
nobody*s_perfect
·2 years agoHere's a simple way to remember: ALL USPS package services automatically include tracking at no additional cost.
That includes (1) all items being sent via Media Mail, Ground Advantage, and Priority Mail; (2) both retail and online purchases; (3) regardless of dimensions or weight.
simba6
·2 years agoGot to watch it with some of those comics from Japan. I had a business partner saw book on display in the airport in Tokyo. It had a big picture of the Digimon Garurumon on the cover. He knows I collect items like that. It was in Japanese and he had no idea what it was. When he got back to the US he looked in it. Let me tell you it was shock to say the least. I have seen yaoi before but this was WAY beyond that. I'm not sure it's legal in the USA.
The worst part, no photos of any Digimon inside.
nobody*s_perfect
·2 years agoI don't see the distinction. Why would manga not be eligible, if graphic novels are? My understanding is that you can use MM for any books that are over 8 pages, no advertising, and reading matter (e.g., not coloring books). This USPS notice says that graphic novels are eligible (and that comic books are not, of course), but it doesn't address manga directly.
https://liteblue.usps.gov/news/link/2013/04apr/Media-Mail-Guidelines.htm
keziak
OP2 years agowell I would be happy to be wrong about manga and media mail but I'm pretty sure it doesn't qualify whether that makes sense or not. Ebay doesn't t hink it qualifies either.
monster-deals
·2 years agoNot all but most. Of course it depends on what you mean by the words "comic book", "graphic novel" and "trade paperback"
monster-deals
·2 years agoI list all my manga as graphic novels since for whatever reason manga doesn't have a media mail option. Manga has always been allowed as media mail.
...well most manga. Shonen jump doesn't qualify.
monster-deals
·2 years agoI should qualify my answer with the fact that I owned a comic book store for over 20 years.
yuzuha
·2 years agoYep, because Shonen Jump is a periodical.
monster-deals
·2 years agoKnowing is half the battle.
jerseyboymusic
·2 years ago@keziak You're a GIRL?!?!??
LOL I thought you were a crotchety old man!
😆
keziak
OP2 years agoI've given up correcting people who say "thanks, dude".
chapeau-noir
·2 years agoAt least you don't get confused for being a boy in real life. 😖
a_c_green
·2 years agoWhile I'm not a huge fan of Media Mail as a shipping method due to its unpredictability of arrival and its being subject to opening for inspection, manga would seem to qualify for it. Per the New York Public Library:
"Manga is an umbrella term for a wide variety of comic books and graphic novels originally produced and published in Japan."
Ref: https://www.nypl.org/blog/2018/12/27/beginners-guide-manga#:~:text=Manga%20is%20an%20umbrella%20term%20for%20a%20wide%20variety%20of%20comic%20books%20and%20graphic%20novels%20originally%20produced%20and%C2%A0published%20in%20Japan.
While the USPS disallows comics in Media Mail, they do accept graphic novels.
Ref: https://liteblue.usps.gov/news/link/2013/04apr/Media-Mail-Guidelines.htm#:~:text=Graphic%20novels%20%2D%20adaptations%20of%20novels%20in%20%E2%80%9Ccomic%20book%E2%80%9D%20format%20contain%20ISBN%20numbers%20issued%20by%20Library%20of%20Congress
keziak
OP2 years agoI don't have time to hunt down a USPS page about manga but it doesn't qualify for Media Mail. Graphic novels do however.
meme6253
·2 years agoI'm pretty sure manga qualifies as long as it's in book form & not a comic book
luckythewinner
·2 years agoI searched the USPS site for the word "manga" and also Googled for "manga" using site:usps.com and found nothing.
I did Google "media mail" + "manga" and found a discussion that media mail is not offered as an option in the eBay category used for Manga, but that is an eBay decision and not a USPS opinion. Are you sure you did not confuse the two?
a_c_green
·2 years agoActually I just gave you the link...
Assuming that we're talking about your sold listing for "BERZERK Deluxe Edition Manga Dark Horse #1-5," those are in book form and (in particular) have ISBN numbers for each, thus satisfying USPS requirements for Media Mail in the Graphic Novels category.
(That said, I would probably ship those via Ground Advantage myself, as you apparently did, and leave Media Mail for items of lower value.)
yuzuha
·2 years agoIt does, actually. Manga are graphic novels.
keziak
OP2 years agoWell OK, but then why if you list on ebay in the Manga category it won't give media mail as a shipping option? Because they think manga are comic books which clearly do not qualify for media mail?
I am not disinterested because I have a TON of manga to sort and list and sure it would be great to ship them as media mail. Not so great if the boxes are opened for inspection and a postal official stamps them postage due though.
yuzuha
·2 years agoThat I don't know, honestly. But they are and always have been eligible for Media Mail. COMICS are not eligible because 1) they're periodicals, which are not allowed, and 2) they contain advertisements. Manga are books and they contain no ads.
monster-deals
·2 years agoYou will not have to worry about that ever.
...well any goof can open any media mail box and interpret whatever like like, however they like.
Think about it for a second...you think some random lowest contract coder knows more about comic books and what can ship media mail...or me, the guy that has been slinging comics since the early 90s?
Single volume manga has always has qualified for MM...but like I said earlier, Shonen Jump and others in that format with piles of advertising between titles, don't.
luckythewinner
·2 years agoManga does not qualify under this acceptable use?
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.