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

[auctionmuse]

if its a padded envelope the jerks at my po always charge me first class package rate!

[jjjuffer4]

Huh!
I received an unwelcome surprise, as a new seller, when my first shipment of comics was opened by my postal clerk after I left. She called me up and told me to come back to the post office. Where...
She haughtily informed me I was committing a felony and that anyone sending me comics in future would be under scrutiny.
Isn't this fun?!
I live in a town of 725 people in the middle of nowhere Wisconsin.
I knew I should never have moved here! lol
Off to find a new postal office. Unfortunately, they're all very, very tiny towns up here, where, apparently, everyone is really bored and nosey and bad tempered.

So, no. Media mail is NOT allowed for comics. They're in the same category as coloring books. SMH

[pingpong517]

what ever happen to actually going on-line and to the USPS site and learning for yourself...or trying the Site Map and looking it up....

[jjjuffer4]

It's easier for some people to reach out to other humans.

And, no, USPS frowns on mailing comic books by media mail.

If caught, you may receive a fine. Plus, you are responsible for the cost of actual the actual shipping rate. Not the media mail discount.

USPS puts comic books in the same category as coloring books, which some people still need, I guess.

[capt.steel]

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@jjjuffer4 wrote:

It's easier for some people to reach out to other humans.

And, no, USPS frowns on mailing comic books by media mail.

If caught, you may receive a fine. Plus, you are responsible for the cost of actual the actual shipping rate. Not the media mail discount.

USPS puts comic books in the same category as coloring books, which some people still need, I guess.

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I've been shipping comic books with media mail for 16 years now - never had a problem.  The spirit of media mail is that it is intended for books, literature and entertainment - all of which comic books would fall under.

The restriction about sending media with advertising would only apply (within rational thinking) to brand new comics - the advertising in old comics is outdated and invalid, rendering it a nostalgic part of the book's content and entertainment. 

If I had to pay the parcel post prices for shipping (which is based on both weight and destination) I wouldn't bother selling comics on eBay, because no one would pay the exorbitant shipping prices for some comic books that they won for 99 cents.  Parcel post prices to ship a small lot of comics across the country can run upwards of $30.00!

[prof_who_collectibles]

Darth Media

[anchorandsailllc]

NO!

[willy-wiley]

I appreciate this thread.  I am new to shipping.  I rely on eBay to tell me the best way to ship my vintage comic book I sold, and it picked Media Mail.  I should rely on what eBay says, right?  I did list it as a Book > Nonfiction, which may not have been the best category.