Media Mail allowed as option when listing in Collectible category, unavailable when shipping

[art_travesty]

I recently listed a whole lot of vintage 8-tracks in a Collectible category. I'm an old Ebay seller who has been away for a long time and didn't realize that there were categories for which Media Mail is now disallowed when purchasing shipping through Ebay. When I listed the item, I was allowed to use Media Mail as the primary method, and the interface gave me no hint that I wouldn't be allowed to use it when it came to time to purchase shipping labels.

Of course, I got a rude awakening when I went to send the items; Media Mail was disallowed, and I ended up using another shipping service to send the packages (these were lots, and they are heavy in the mass!). I confirmed before I even attempted to offer Media Mail that 8-track tapes are approved items for this service.

I'm wiser now, but why wouldn't Ebay give me a warning when I'm listing the items in the first place? Anyone else notice this? BTW, the specific category was

• Listed in category: Collectibles-> Vintage, Retro, Mid-Century--> 1970s

[nobody*s_perfect]

Yes, eBay should give a warning whenever a seller sets up a shipping option that won't be available later when they try to purchase their shipping label through eBay.

This includes not only offering Media Mail in the categories where eBay is crudely trying to prevent abuse of MM; also when offering First Class letter or flat (Large envelope) postage, Retail Ground, or  (for most sellers) Parcel Select Ground.

You can still purchase MM postage for your eBay packages through PayPal at

www.PayPal.com/shipnow

[katzrul15]

You could have purchased Media Mail on the USPS.com site or at the retail counter - same price as buying thru e-Bay when allowed and yes 8-tracks qualify for MM. 

[nobody*s_perfect]

USPS.com Click N Ship doesn't offer Media Mail.  But yes, it could have been purchased at the PO for the same price.

[tools*]

You can always use Pirate Ship for Media Mail, all other USPS classes, and UPS.

[art_travesty]

Thanks for your answers! I did ultimately use Pirate Ship to access electronic Media Mail, since waiting to take these packages to the local USPS would be a big step back for me. I used to have to do that back in the early 2000s when I first started selling here, and then manually add tracking, transcribe the numbers from the paper receipts, and then enter them in communiques to my buyers. It is far more convenient to do the copy and paste electronically. Sometimes I would leave the packages for pickup by my route postal person (if they were small/convenient), since the nearest post office is more than 10 miles away. I'll also take a look at what PayPal has morphed its shipping service into; I used to use multi-order shipping there, but I couldn't find it the last time I tried to access it. It feels almost as though the whole system is taking a giant step backwards!

[chapeau-noir]

@art_travesty  Paypal's ship now service is now 'ship station'.  If I can't ship through eBay, I use another service.  I'd rather see a clamp-down on abuse of media mail, crude as it is, than the continued abuse.

[1786davycrockett]

Had you listed in the "Music" category instead of "Collectibles" you should have been able to ship at the USPS Media rate.

Many of us have complained to eBay that its USPS shipping parameters on "Collectibles" will not allow sellers to list books, 8-tracks, and many other "collectible"  items at the USPS Media rate, even though USPS regulations clearly state that those items are permitted -- it's just another eBay "glitch."