Can empty cardboard boxes be mailed as media mail

[daphnesfavorites]

Recently I sold many empty shipping boxes which turned out to be expensive to ship because of their size. Someone told me that I could have shipped them medial mail. Is this true?

[dhbookds]

No...............  it's not media

You might check parcel select rates.  In some cases they can be cheaper than priority.......

[odie200412 · Accepted solution]

My answer would have to be no.  This may help:

Media Mail shipping is a cost-effective way to send educational materials. This service has restrictions on the type of media that can be shipped. Media Mail rates are limited to the items listed below:

• Books (at least 8 pages).
• Sound recordings and video recordings, such as CDs and DVDs.
• Play scripts and manuscripts for books, periodicals, and music.
• Printed music.
• Computer-readable media containing prerecorded information and guides or scripts prepared solely for use with such media.
• Sixteen millimeter or narrower width films.
• Printed objective test materials and their accessories.
• Printed educational reference charts.
• Loose-leaf pages and their binders consisting of medical information for distribution to doctors, hospitals, medical schools, and medical students.

Media Mail packages may not contain advertising. Comic books do not meet this standard. Books may contain incidental announcements of other books and sound recordings may contain incidental announcements of other sound recordings. In accordance with standards in the Mailing Standards of the United States Postal Service, Domestic Mail Manual (DMM), Section 170, Media Mail packages must have a delivery address and the sender’s return address and are subject to inspection by the Postal Service™. Upon such inspection, matter not eligible for the Media Mail rate may be assessed at the proper price and sent to the recipient postage due, or the sender may be contacted for additional postage.

For more information about Media Mail service, please visit www.usps.com or call 1-800-ASK-USPS (1-800-275-8777). Complete explanations of qualified items can be found in the DMM.

[missjen831]

No. It’s not true. They aren’t media.

[membersinceaug2001]

Whenever I buy boxes, on here of couse, they come via UPS with the weight shown as way less than actual.  Delivery guy sees it and just laughs it off.

[ozarkjoe]

Maybe you can throw in some old tattered books in the box?

[mingotoy]

The minute that you throw something that is NOT media mail inside the box,  the box is NO longer eligible to be classified as media mail.   I remember reading here many years ago how someone stuffed an old sheet inside a box that had many books.  He/she shipped media.  The box was opened by the post office and once they saw the sheets,  the post office charged the buyer priority mail rates.  The buyer had to pay the difference and it was alot of money.  He was ticked.      The seller had used the sheets as cushioning.

By the way, if the stuff has advertising , you can't ship media.  This also includes comic books and magazines.   The post office is cracking down on abuse.

[missjen831]

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@ozarkjoe wrote:

Maybe you can throw in some old tattered books in the box?

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That doesn’t make it eligible for media mail. 

[turquoisetulips]

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@mingotoy wrote:

The minute that you throw something that is NOT media mail inside the box,  the box is NO longer eligible to be classified as media mail.   I remember reading here many years ago how someone stuffed an old sheet inside a box that had many books.  He/she shipped media.  The box was opened by the post office and once they saw the sheets,  the post office charged the buyer priority mail rates.  The buyer had to pay the difference and it was alot of money.  He was ticked.      The seller had used the sheets as cushioning.

By the way, if the stuff has advertising , you can't ship media.  This also includes comic books and magazines.   The post office is cracking down on abuse.

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I think the post office  was unfairly ruling in their own favor  with that  box . They must have realized the sheets weren't the item  that was actually being  sent    but were  only being used as  cushioning . The books were there  in the box and because of that  the seller should have never been denied  the  media mail  rate  IMO . Tulips 

[jimsthisandthat]

Heard the Chinese spend zero on Ebay to ship to USA.

American made products suffering from it you best believe!

 Maybe it's time to change some rules?

We help you, you cut us a break once in a while.

https://www.vox.com/2020/4/12/21218151/usps-bailout-privatization-amazon-trump