shipping a heavy book series through media mail

[thesharklady]

Have you guys sent large/heavy book series through media mail and had them arrive okay?

I've only ever sold 1 book at a time before and always used boxes that were much bigger than the book to leave room for lots of packing materials to protect them. I have a seven book hardcover series I wanted to sell, but the only box I have that they'll fit in leaves only about an inch of room for packaging on each side, which doesn't seem like much for a bunch of heavy books. Do heavy media mail boxes get really beat up?

Thank you!

[dogchow747]

I looked, 70 lb limit.

Tape the box well, (I would use lots of tape!) Would put a little packing in around the books.

Its rough. Packages will likely be dropped and generally handled roughly.

You can go UPS ground with more packing in a little larger box if they are really nice.

It will get there and at a cheaper rate media mail in most cases.

I have both shipped and bought books via media mail and it has always worked for me.

Good luck.

[nobody*s_perfect]

If the set is really heavy, I would ship in two boxes.

[simba6]

Media mail is much slower and that gives more time to knock the box around.  Heavy packages should be wrapped with strapping tape. The stuff with string in it. It only works if the wraps overlap a good three times too.  Double box.  I have seen many a heavy box rip apart in transit.

[muttlymob]

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@thesharklady wrote:

 Do heavy media mail boxes get really beat up?

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Heavy, dense boxes like books do tend to get damaged and cause damage to other packages.  While up to 70 pounds is allowed, a good recommendation is to keep boxes of heavy books under 30-35 pounds.  These boxes will travel on conveyors, drop through chutes, land on corners and edges, land on other boxes.  No matter what the mail class heavy, dense packages cause lots of damage to themselves and to others.