Media Mail not available to ship for a book I sold on eBay buyer selected MM

[proudpandaproducts]

I just sold a book today and it was listed with free media mail shipping and the buyer selected that option. When I went to ship the item the buyer had selected the media mail option but I could not choose that option as eBay had whited it out and said this item did not qualify for media mail. My item is a book and was originally listed in the book category. eBay just recently changed that category to Books & Magazines and this listing was automatically migrated to this new category. As this was a book I am wondering that because most magazines carry advertisements which disqualifies them from media mail that this might be the problem.

I had to print the shipping elsewhere but I am wondering if anyone else has experienced this recently?

[dkskies]

arbitrary rules at Ebay are at it again - a book ships media mail at the USPS, but Ebay has their own rules.

[wastingtime101]

@dkskies eBay allows sellers to offer a wide range of shipping services through their listings, but they don't offer every one of those services through their label purchase page.

A few examples include:
- Retail Ground (a retail service available exclusively at USPS retail locations)
- Parcel Select (currently available through eBay labels only to Top Rated Sellers, but can be purchased through any other online shipping provider that offers USPS)
- Media Mail (can only be purchased through eBay for select categories due to how much the service is abused. An item might qualify for MM even though eBay labels doesn't offer it for that category, but you can purchase it through any other online shipping provider that offers USPS or at the retail counter)
- Letter/Flat service (it's an untracked USPS First Class service which is the likely reason eBay doesn't offer it through their label platform)

The system will typically default to the first shipping option on the list (often Priority Flat Rate Envelope). You can purchase an alternate service through eBay, but if you want to purchase a label for the one designated on the listing then you can go to pirateship.com or to paypal.com/shipnow

Another time you'll see the shipping method default is when the listing is set up for First Class, but the buyer purchases multiples and exceeds the weight limit for FC. The system will default to another method, typically Priority Mail flat rate envelope.

[dkskies]

best part - when making a new listing for a book in a non-media-mail-according-to-Ebay category, Media Mail still Shows Up as a possible shpping method. Clearly they’ve done a poor job making the change, blindsiding sellers that Media Mail will be available. Thanks for the leads on the other shpping sources.

[kh-gary]

Hi everyone,

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

Thank you for understanding.