Flash Cards - Media Mail Question

[epowerbargains]

Sold a set of addition/subtraction flash cards.  I researched media mail using the USPS site and it appears that even though this is educational material it is not a chart and thus is not medial mail eligible. In addition, eBay blocks media mail as a shipping option. So, I did mail it out USPS priority mail. Here is the question, I saw that the Pitney Bowes mailing site specifically states that flash cards are media mail eligible. In looking into this I noticed that Amazon does not permit Flash cards to be sent media and there is a response from a USPS letter carrier on a message board and his/her response was " no flash cards are not eligible." 

Is the Pitney Bowes  site wrong? Do they have a special deal with USPS? 

[1786davycrockett]

USPS overrules Pitney-Bowes -- and flash cards are NOT media, since they are not bound, like a book.

Flash cards are individual pieces of paper; and, like other unbound, individual pieces of paper, they do not qualify for the USPS Media rate.

Pitney-Bowes is wrong.

[nobody*s_perfect · Accepted solution]

Here is a reference chart that USPS put together for staff. It says that flash cards ARE eligible, and cites the ruling on test materials.

https://liteblue.usps.gov/news/link/2013/04apr/Media-Mail-Guidelines.htm

Items do not have to be bound (like books) in order to be eligible for MM.  Eligible items include CDs, DVDs, reference charts, even player-piano rolls. Here's the section of the Domestic Mail Manual which gives details about eligibility:

https://pe.usps.com/text/dmm300/173.htm#ep1113509

[deb@shipping]

Hi @nobody*s_perfect thank you for the callout and for providing the USPS references. We will update Media Mail eligible categories to include categories that flash cards are likely to be listed in e.g. Toys & Hobbies: Educational and Everything Else: Education & Learning leaf categories with our next update which will be live within the next 30 days. I will follow up here to confirm once the update has been applied.

[epowerbargains]

Dear Nobody's Perfect - Thank you so much!!!! Not only did you answer the question posed with the link source to confirm the information, you also settled a debate in our household and even better your effort paid off in eBay's modifying their eligible Media Mail categories. BRAVO and much appreciated. Your assistance is exactly what makes the eBay boards a valuable source of information. Again, Thank You. 

[epowerbargains]

Hello, just wanted to reach out and thank you for responding and confirming that eBay will be updating the media mail categories based on nobody's perfect's  information.  Have a great day!

[ledickson]

The individual postal employee does not necessarily know exactly what is media mail. I was mailing 35mm slides and the postal employee said I could have sent them media mail, but the rules specifically state 16mm or less.

[kh-phdan]

Hello Everyone,

Due to the age of the thread, it has been closed to further replies. Please feel free to start a new thread if you wish to continue to discuss this topic.

Thanks for understanding!