Media mail

[sandiegolinda]

Media mail cannot have advertising per the post office regulations.  I was told by my post office they were going to start cracking down on this.  Do others not know of the regulation, because they are mailing magazines w/ads via media mail.  I can't compete with them, as I don't want the Feds down on me or ebay......heck, they might send the Internal Rev after me next!!!! Joking of course, I do pay my taxes.

[sandiegolinda]

I'm well aware it is a Federal regulation.  I didn't say it was ebay's rule, i just wanted to know why ebay doesn't add infor. on media mail, with all their other tips? and yes, i realize they don't HAVE to, that it is our responsibility to know the rules.  I'm just trying to understand all the rules, certainly NOT BREAK them!  .....boy, this whole thing has blown up into such a big deal.  Sorry I even asked!   

[readabouthorses]

I've had discussions with various people on the Ebay Shipping Team as well as some of the Ebay people who answer questions on Ebay For Business Facebook page about this BEYOND ANNOYING Media Mail abuse.

They know it is happening but they don't seem interested in trying to do anything about it. I'm told when you list using Ebay Listing Forms there is supposed to be some popup or message that shows up when you choose Media Mail to "alert" the seller their item needs to qualify. Lots of good that does. The magazine sellers know they don't qualify and just do it anyway. And then if they get tired of the popup message they just choose "Economy" without selecting a mail class and still ship Media Mail.

I've given them examples of some sellers I've come across that were selling over 10,000 (yes, that is ten thousand) magazines and shipping them all by Media Mai.

I got so tired of having buyers asking me to ship Media Mail that I finally just added a line in my listings that magazines cannot be shipped by Media Mail. Guess what ... they still ask! Just had one recently that wanted to buy multiples of my magazines but wanted them shipped by MM.  When I told them I could not do that then they didn't buy.

One day Media Mail will go the way of Bound Printed Matter and become a permit based mail class but until that time it is a monster that Ebay cannot control. Only the USPS can control it by cracking down on abusers and making them pay the correct rate when their shipments are found and not making the buyer or receiver pay the Postage Due.

[sandiegolinda]

Readabouthorses: You are the only person on here who can give a reasonable answer without getting all riled up ! Thank you 🙂

[dcintennessee]

That's hilarious! FYI, many newspapers & commercial printers sell "end rolls" of clean newsprint for next to nothing. For $1-2, you can get about a mile of clean newsprint.

[dcintennessee]

Partial*eclipse, your posts are always most helpful. Thank you! I sell very little that qualifies for MM, but from now on I'll packages unsealed & get the INSPECTED stamp at the counter. Fortunately, my USPS personnel are awesome. I'll confirm today that they have that handy-dandy stamp.

[dcintennessee]

Also - consider the Priority Mail Large Flat Rate GAME boxes! They are huge, and price less than RR Box 2 for many zones.

[castlemagicmemories]

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@partial*eclipse wrote:

Highlights for Children is a periodical with no ads.  IIRC, also Arizona Highways.  Having been "entered as periodicals" (as the USPS jargon would say) they are not eligible for MM.

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@partial*eclipse

Thanks for the memory!  I loved that when I was a kid!