A 26

[brotherbakariarchive]

Am I going to be charged an extra $26.00 by USPS, in addition to the basic ebay shipping and label charges if I have only one (1)  27-pound Media Mail package? This seems to be an unfair way to jack up the cost of home pickup, thus dissuading book sellers from shipping with USPS. The initial directives only warn that USPS pickups require paid labeling and cannot exceed 70 pounds. Something doesn't compute; what am I missing?

[frugalmarketplace]

@brotherbakariarchive  What were you shipping.   If it didn’t qualify for media mail.  That would be the cause.

[nyr134]

A 27-pound package of books (i.e., your 10-volume encyclopedia) should have a charge of about $26 for media mail.  You mention "in addition to the basic ebay shipping and label charges."  I am not clear what those charges would be.  Was USPS clear that you will have already paid the postage by purchasing the label from USPS, via eBay?  If they are charging you something additional, that is something you should take up with your local post office.

[fern*wood]

I didn't think about being charged the fee, I just figured I wasn't allowed to schedule at all.  Can you hold it for a day in hopes of having a qualifying shipment for pickup or take it in to the post office yourself? 

I hold mine if it happens, but I have a 3 day handling time to allow for things like this.   I recall one time this happened I saw my mail carrier coming and explained why I didn't schedule the pickup and she just took it without any issue. 

[soh.maryl]

"This seems to be an unfair way to jack up the cost of home pickup . . ."?

[orangehound]

---

@brotherbakariarchive wrote:

Am I going to be charged an extra $26.00 by USPS, in addition to the basic ebay shipping and label charges if I have only one (1)  27-pound Media Mail package? 

The $26.50 fee you are describing is for USPS Pickup on Demand.  They send a dedicated driver to your location on a specific day and specific time window that you specify.

USPS Package Pickup (regular route pickup) is free.  It happens when your normal route driver comes to your location on a future day.

Read more here:  https://faq.usps.com/s/article/What-is-Package-Pickup

[ryry-jj]

You can just drop off at a PO  and get an acceptance scan, too.    I'm sure this is just me, but I'm not making my carrier pick up a 26# box and carry it from my house to their truck and expect a happy USPS driver, lol...again, that's just me

[bonanza125]

Drop the package off at your local post office. Problem solved. If you can't they you must pay for that. Period!

[babyers88]

I can tell you that a 26lb package of just about anything is going to be cheaper to ship via fedex home or ground, aside from that fedex does charge a pickup fee so dropping it off in any case will be your best bet

[bdmh-enterprises]

---

@ryry-jj wrote:

You can just drop off at a PO  and get an acceptance scan, too.    I'm sure this is just me, but I'm not making my carrier pick up a 26# box and carry it from my house to their truck and expect a happy USPS driver, lol...again, that's just me

---

I do the same. My absolutely amazing carrier that comes by even if I'm not receiving mail, once caught me putting some bigger boxes in my car and said he had no problem coming back with the truck to get them. I still take anything that wouldn't fit in his bag to the PO myself, just seems like common courtesy since I don't request the P/U.. 

[albertabrightalberta]

Never mind. I wasn't aware of a charge to schedule a pickup. 

[fm2000]

If you have a Ground Advantage or Priority package they will pick up media mail package(s) for free, no matter the size or weight of the package. Do you have any other packages going out?

FedEx and UPS would not necessarily be cheaper. Media Mail is a flat rate based on weight alone (and is not subject to dimensional weight, overlength or rural zip code surcharges), and will always be far cheaper than FedEx or UPS when going outside the lower 48. There are no erroneous FedEx or UPS "gotcha" adjustments that are constantly reported on the boards here. And it can be delivered to a PO Box too.