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Media Mail
Darkewolfe
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
I'm coming into the final stages of preparing for a cross-country move, and I've decided to ship a few boxes to myself rather than haul them in the hopes of not having to rent a trailer. (I finally decided to abandon all my furniture to a roommate in exchange for free rent.)
While I got rid of all but a few of my books the last time I moved to a new city, I've once again got more than a box full of heavy, dead trees. I know that media mail is a cheap way to mail things, so I figured I might just ship all the books to myself.
Since media mail IS cheaper, I assume the post office asks for some sort of information/testimony or proof that what you're shipping falls under their rules? What's the best way to go about getting 50-100 pounds of books (and possibly dvd's/cd's) ready to be shipped via media mail? I tried looking at the USPS site, but I just see what's allowed. I may have just missed it, but what other rules are there? (Needs to be packaged a certain way, needs to be clearly outlined what it contains, etc.) The advice I did find said, "I usually just take a book to the post office and say, 'Mail this please.'" I was wondering if there was a better way to do it if you're sending great piles of books. (Also, do dvd's count?)
While I got rid of all but a few of my books the last time I moved to a new city, I've once again got more than a box full of heavy, dead trees. I know that media mail is a cheap way to mail things, so I figured I might just ship all the books to myself.
Since media mail IS cheaper, I assume the post office asks for some sort of information/testimony or proof that what you're shipping falls under their rules? What's the best way to go about getting 50-100 pounds of books (and possibly dvd's/cd's) ready to be shipped via media mail? I tried looking at the USPS site, but I just see what's allowed. I may have just missed it, but what other rules are there? (Needs to be packaged a certain way, needs to be clearly outlined what it contains, etc.) The advice I did find said, "I usually just take a book to the post office and say, 'Mail this please.'" I was wondering if there was a better way to do it if you're sending great piles of books. (Also, do dvd's count?)
What is this I don't even.
Darkewolfe on
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Don't pack the CDs/DVDs in the same box as the books, or they will get crushed.
You will want tracking.
Buh?
Or is it that a box they assume is filled with books will have several elephants stacked on top of it, thus crushing the magical, silvery discs?
To clarify, CD and DVD cases are likely to be damaged if mailed in the same box as books. (I figured you had them in cases; otherwise disks just don't take up enough space to bother with media mail.) Assume the box will get thrown around, tumbled end over end, crushed by several other boxes, set on fire, and generally abused.
Of those several dozen boxes, I've never once been asked to prove the contents are media. That doesn't mean you won't be asked, but it's doubtful they'll care, unless there's reason for them to be suspicious of the contents. Media is going to all have a "general" weight, so if you have a giant box that's light as a feather, or a tiny box that feels full of lead, they may ask to prove the contents, since there's very little media that would cause that kind of weight/size ratio.
Also, no way in the world I would mail any CD/DVD collection of any reasonable size. A handful of either? Maybe. But the ~400 DVD's I had to move recently, I mailed only the cases. The disks themselves I took out and put in two 250 CD/DVD binders, that stayed with me in the car during the cross-country drive. CD/DVD binders are cheap, and don't take too much space.
My only other advise is make an inventory of everything in each box, and label them for your own reference. I labeled ours B1 - Bwhatever (make sure you put it on a few places on the box, in case it gets stickered over). Do some rough math on how much the contents cost to replace -new- and insure each box for that amount. Keep receipts and inventory lists, just in case things get lost/damaged in the mail. Mail insurance is cheap, but worth it if a box goes missing (in theory. There are horror stories about USPS insurance claims never being fulfilled, YMMV)
It's the treatment of boxes in general. I wouldn't ship books with CDs regardless of class unless they were exceptionally well-packed and padded.
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That is weird. My post office was okay with sending video games as media mail.
My brother did that once, and the clerk at the receiving post office tried to get a lot of more money out of him before giving him the package. He got it straightened out eventually, but it's probably best to just avoid the hassle.
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Last time I shipped media mail the smaller boxes arrived 4-5 days before the big heavy one.
I used to work at a place that handled a lot of mail and every time we got media mail in it was always opened. Sometimes very obviously.
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The USPS website doesn't mention video games specifically, but it does say you can send "recorded computer-readable media (such as CDs, DVDs, and diskettes)", which I think would include video and computer games.