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Media Mail

So looking for some input. I have been selling on line for over 10 years & had this issue years ago & now it has started again since the post office has double there prices over the past year or so making shipping cost sky rocket. Now they are opening up Media Mail & sending back the magazines again. Years back I had a lawyer send me the legal definition of Media Mail & said there was no law or rule that said a magazine was not media. I know everyone ships magazines as media mail but now our local post office is going to return them. Does anyone have any answers on this matter as a legal matter. Obviously soon as we double the shipping cost on them they will stop selling with the 10's of thousands of sellers still using media mail. I think the only fair market is if either we all get to use it or no one does. Anyone with any answers out there ??????

Message 1 of 38
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37 REPLIES 37

Re: Media Mail

I don't know where your lawyer got his information.  Magazines are not eligible for Media Mail postage.  The USPS has a specific list of what IS eligible, and magazines aren't on that list.  Furthermore, the list prohibits books with advertising. And items which have been "entered as periodicals" (i.e., published and eligible for shipping and the discounted periodicals rate) also aren't eligible.

 

Here's a chart that USPS produced for staff reference.  The chart includes separate entries for old and new magazines, which strongly implies that this is a frequent issue.

 

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

 

And there's the official eligibility list, from the USPS Domestic Mail Manual

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

Message 2 of 38
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Re: Media Mail


@coolcollectablestuff123 wrote:

I think the only fair market is if either we all get to use it or no one does.


Everyone can use it as long as the item qualifies for Media Mail, which magazines don't.

Personally, I think they need to check everything being shipped Media Mail and stop the abuse of it.

I was looking at some items the other day and the seller was using Media Mail and it didn't matter what it was, coffee cups, ball caps and everything else and I didn't see one item they sold that qualified for Media Mail.

 

 

 

Have a great day.
Message 3 of 38
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Re: Media Mail


@kensgiftshop wrote:

Personally, I think they need to check everything being shipped Media Mail and stop the abuse of it.


Media mail is so abused that it causes the prices of all the other services to increase ... I think the solution here is for sellers to comply with the rules regarding Media Mail.

Message 4 of 38
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Re: Media Mail

The lawyer was a government lawyer that had done cases with the post office & I wish I could find the email he sent me that had the actual law that said that magazines were media ads or no ads. I just can't compete with the 10's of thousands that are shipping using media mail including amazon themselves. Not a level field if they are just going to go after a few sellers but not all sellers. I get the cheats there everywhere these days but there is no reason for not being able to ship a magazine under that flat rate. Many of the issues I sell are 70 years and older. I'm sure the 10 cent add has nothing to do with them delivering that package. I think the whole thing is rigged. Thanks for all the replies. I was hoping someone had a better answer but it was expected

 

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Re: Media Mail


@coolcollectablestuff123 wrote:

The lawyer was a government lawyer that had done cases with the post office & I wish I could find the email he sent me that had the actual law that said that magazines were media ads or no ads.


There is no "actual law" that states either way. The USPS is entirely free to set its own definitions about what constitutes Media Mail, and has done so. The rules regarding magazines have been in place for ages (after all, periodicals have been around for, what, 150-200 years or more), although the USPS' enforcement of their own rules has been spotty. It sounds like maybe they're cracking down more on abuse of the discounted rate.

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Re: Media Mail

As of today I have been with the Post Office 20 years.

 

Magazines have NEVER qualified for Media Mail.

 

Media Mail has ALWAYS been subject to inspection. 

 

Also I wouldn't count on that lawyer for anything important. Because they didn't even check the USPS DMM.

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

 

2.2 Inspection of Contents
Media Mail and Library Mail are not sealed against postal inspection. Regardless of physical closure, the mailing of articles at Media Mail or Library Mail prices constitutes consent by the mailer to postal inspection of the contents.

 

3.0 General Content Standards
Mailable matter meeting one of the specific eligibility standards in 4.0 for Media Mail and 5.0 for Library Mail, and that is neither mailed or required to be mailed as First-Class Mail nor entered as Periodicals, may be mailed as Media Mail or Library Mail, respectively.


4.0 Content Standards for Media Mail
4.1 Qualified Items
Only these items may be mailed at the Media Mail prices:
Books, including books issued to supplement other books, of at least eight printed pages, consisting wholly of reading matter or scholarly bibliography, or reading matter with incidental blank spaces for notations and containing no advertising matter other than incidental announcements of books. Advertising includes paid advertising and the publishers‘ own advertising in display, classified, or editorial style.
16-millimeter or narrower width films, which must be positive prints in final form for viewing, and catalogs of such films of 24 pages or more (at least 22 of which are printed). Films and film catalogs sent to or from commercial theaters do not qualify for the Media Mail price.
Printed music, whether in bound or sheet form.
Printed objective test materials and their accessories used by or on behalf of educational institutions to test ability, aptitude, achievement, interests, and other mental and personal qualities with or without answers, test scores, or identifying information recorded thereon in writing or by mark.
Sound recordings, including incidental announcements of recordings and guides or scripts prepared solely for use with such recordings. Video recordings and player piano rolls are classified as sound recordings.
Playscripts and manuscripts for books, periodicals, and music.
Printed educational reference charts designed to instruct or train individuals for improving or developing their capabilities. Each chart must be a single printed sheet of information designed for educational reference. The information on the chart, which may be printed on one or both sides of the sheet, must be conveyed primarily by graphs, diagrams, tables, or other nonnarrative matter. An educational reference chart is normally but not necessarily devoted to one subject. A chart on which the information is conveyed primarily by textual matter in a narrative form does not qualify as a printed educational reference chart for mailing at the Media Mail prices even if it includes graphs, diagrams, or tables. Examples of qualifying charts include maps produced primarily for educational reference, tables of mathematical or scientific equations, noun declensions or verb conjugations used in the study of languages, periodic table of elements, botanical or zoological tables, and other tables used in the study of science.
Loose-leaf pages and their binders consisting of medical information for distribution to doctors, hospitals, medical schools, and medical students.
Computer-readable media containing prerecorded information and guides or scripts prepared solely for use with such media.
4.2 Enclosures in Books Mailed as Media Mail
Enclosures in books mailed at Media Mail prices are subject to these additional standards:
Either one envelope or one addressed postcard may be bound into the pages of a book. If also serving as an order form, the envelope or card may be in addition to the order form permitted by 4.2b.
One order form may be bound into the pages of a book. If also serving as an envelope or postcard, the order form may be in addition to the envelope or card permitted by 4.2a.
Announcements of books may appear as book pages. These announcements must be incidental and exclusively devoted to books, without extraneous advertising of book-related or other materials or services. Announcements may describe the conditions of ordering books and may contain ordering instructions for use with a separate order form. Up to three of these announcements may contain as part of their format a single order form, which may be a postcard. The order forms permitted with these announcements are in addition to order forms that may be enclosed under 4.2a or 4.2b.

 

 

 

 

Message 7 of 38
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Re: Media Mail

I hope you did not pay that so called lawyer any money - fire him. He may have already lost his license with bad advice like that. Magazines have never been media and all media mail is subject to inspection. At least you got them back, they could have been confiscated. 

I am a founding member of the eBay Community Expert Group: a USA volunteer mentor with over a decade of experience. I am not an eBay employee.

Live simply. Care deeply. Love generously. Speak kindly. Laugh loudly. Act responsibly. Rejoice daily. Help cheerfully. Plan carefully. Criticize sparingly. Invest wisely. Forgive willingly. Shop seriously. Play fairly. Learn graciously.
Message 8 of 38
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Re: Media Mail

Congratulations on 20 years.  I know how hard you work, so perhaps "Happy Anniversary" isn't quite appropriate?

Message 9 of 38
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Re: Media Mail

I'll second @nobody*s_perfect 's motion @lja440 of congratulations - that is a phenomenal record of service. And I appreciate the hard work you do. Thank you.

I am a founding member of the eBay Community Expert Group: a USA volunteer mentor with over a decade of experience. I am not an eBay employee.

Live simply. Care deeply. Love generously. Speak kindly. Laugh loudly. Act responsibly. Rejoice daily. Help cheerfully. Plan carefully. Criticize sparingly. Invest wisely. Forgive willingly. Shop seriously. Play fairly. Learn graciously.
Message 10 of 38
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Re: Media Mail


@coolcollectablestuff123 wrote:

So looking for some input. I have been selling on line for over 10 years & had this issue years ago & now it has started again since the post office has double there prices over the past year or so making shipping cost sky rocket. Now they are opening up Media Mail & sending back the magazines again. Years back I had a lawyer send me the legal definition of Media Mail & said there was no law or rule that said a magazine was not media. I know everyone ships magazines as media mail but now our local post office is going to return them. Does anyone have any answers on this matter as a legal matter. Obviously soon as we double the shipping cost on them they will stop selling with the 10's of thousands of sellers still using media mail. I think the only fair market is if either we all get to use it or no one does. Anyone with any answers out there ??????


Get your money back from that lawyer

Message 11 of 38
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Re: Media Mail

Congrats on your 20!! You've mentioned you work in Central Ohio. As a lady formerly from Chicago I know the winter weather you deal with. Good on ya!

Message 12 of 38
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Re: Media Mail

Magazines do not qualify as Media Mail.   Last month I had some basketball sports yearbooks listed and one buyer messaged to complain to me about not using media mail to ship.  These were full of advertising, heavy and thick  (over 1 pound), and I was using Flat rate envelopes to ship.  Despite the fact that people don't know all the USPS regulations I get really irked when people don't like my shipping methods as I always look for the most economical way.  Fortunately I didn't even have to worry as someone else bought them right afterwards.

Message 13 of 38
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Re: Media Mail


@nobody*s_perfect wrote:

Congratulations on 20 years.  I know how hard you work, so perhaps "Happy Anniversary" isn't quite appropriate?


LOL It was my 60th birthday too. 4 more years and I qualify for partial pension (10 years) because my years as a sub doesn't count toward your pension.  If my body holds up, starting to get the typical job related problems of detreating joints I my right hand and arm. 

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Re: Media Mail


@bearswatching wrote:

Congrats on your 20!! You've mentioned you work in Central Ohio. As a lady formerly from Chicago I know the winter weather you deal with. Good on ya!


Ohio is known for it's freaky weather. It's not uncommon to chip ice off of my Jeep in the morning and be down to just a T shirt (and pants of course) by mid afternoon. 

 

I grew up 60 miles south of Chicago. You get more snow, we tend to get more sleet, hail and freezing rain. I think we are about equal on wind chill though.

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