USPS Media Mail Regulations 1 1

[shadroch]

On ‎11‎/‎7‎/‎2017 at 8:07 AM, DarkPhantom13 said:

Had 2 comics get delivered in a package yesterday that was shipped Media Mail and was opened and inspected by the post office. The seller had done a pretty good job at packing up the comics and taped the comics themselves to the cardboard inside of the package but it was ripped off im assuming when the post office opened the package. The package was resealed but the comics were not re-taped to the cardboard so they were bouncing around inside of the package throughout the rest of the trip. One of the comics is perfectly fine but the other comic ended up getting 4 or so spine bends. The seller was a great guy and took care of the problem but this is one of the main reason i try to avoid people that ship through Media Mail....

Anyone who ships two comics via media doesn't know what they are doing. 

[lizards2]

On ‎11‎/‎7‎/‎2017 at 6:50 AM, 01TheDude said:

 The seller did not use eBay shipping (pretty strange for someone with that many sales) but used actual stamps 

Reminds me of those big packages of war books I used to get from @thirdgreenham with stamps all over the box!   

[lizards2]

1 hour ago, shadroch said:

Anyone who ships two comics via media doesn't know what they are doing. 

There are a zillion of those out there, and many right here. 

[grebal]

2 hours ago, lizards2 said:

Reminds me of those big packages of war books I used to get from @thirdgreenham with stamps all over the box!   

I love getting a package from Andy, it's like receiving an instant stamp collection.

[porcupine48]

5 hours ago, lizards2 said:

Reminds me of those big packages of war books I used to get from @thirdgreenham with stamps all over the box!   

pervert.

 

[Sqeggs]

On 11/7/2017 at 9:50 AM, 01TheDude said:

The book arrived on Saturday. Paid for on 10/21, shipped notice on 10/23, received 11/5

No damage or anything odd about the package. The seller did not use eBay shipping (pretty strange for someone with that many sales) but used actual stamps and paid for delivery confirmation from the counter at their post office I assume. I never understand how people still use this time consuming method. They may think they are providing this great service but they are wasting time and money going to the counter imo. You can pick up a postal scale for 10-20 bucks and weigh your own packages, print off your own labels (or tape paper ones to the package -- and use ebays shipping discount) and place the item in your own mail box for pick up. Same package could have cost as little as 2.77 to send first class in this case. They paid more no doubt. They did at least send it bagged (super old bag-- no board) and sandwiched between cardboard.

I guess some folks like going to the post office. As for the seller-- I did a little more digging to figure out that mostly what they sell are autographs and very infrequently comic books. So while they stated "this book fits eBays 5.0 grade" and made no mention of any flaws beyond some obvious cover creasing--- the book in hand was more like a 1.5 to 2.0. It had 4 interior bottom corner pieces missing/torn off. The center wrap was not attached. And there was a four inch long cut/gouge in the cover (as well as two "eye" holes in the bad guys face) that you cannot see in the photos as it follows the path of a laser the bad guy is shooting. Still-- I kept the book as the price was still within reason-- and within what I was bidding on while not trusting the limited description to begin with. Gave them positive feedback but advised future buyers what damage was not reported and that their 5.0 was more like a 2.0 (and that was being kind imo).

Here's my scan for reference:

  Reveal hidden contents

 

Probably won't actually do future buyers much good because how many buyers read positive fb?  Particularly if the seller gets a lot of fb, your comment will quickly be buried.  If you want to alert future buyers to problems, you have to leave a neg or a neutral.  I can see, though, that for a small dollar transaction it may not have seemed appropriate. 

Edited November 10, 2017 by Sqeggs
Typo

[01TheDude]

On 11/8/2017 at 5:22 PM, Sqeggs said:

Probably won't actually do future buyers much good because how many buyers reads positive fb?  Particularly if the seller gets a lot of fb, your comment will quickly be buried.  If you want to alert future buyers to problems, you have to leave a neg or a neutral.  I can see, though, that for a small dollar transaction it may not have seemed appropriate. 

yeah-- it was not a huge deal just sort of inconvenient. The half-arsed job of description was a bit annoying but I was not expecting a great copy for the price I paid either.

[Cruzin' Thru Comics]

I ship 1-6 books and cgc books priority- either envelopes or boxed.  Most of these single books are priced over $20 ea. I ship lots (7 books and up) boxed media mail. Also, hardcovers, trades, omnibus’ all get shipped media. Been doing that for years now with not a single problem. They are packaged extremely well with plenty of insulation. Usps workers don’t have time to open these packages. I would think they might open a media box if it’s poorly packaged as many are. 

[ygogolak]

11 hours ago, Cruzin' Thru Comics said:

I ship 1-6 books and cgc books priority- either envelopes or boxed.  Most of these single books are priced over $20 ea. I ship lots (7 books and up) boxed media mail. Also, hardcovers, trades, omnibus’ all get shipped media. Been doing that for years now with not a single problem. They are packaged extremely well with plenty of insulation. Usps workers don’t have time to open these packages. I would think they might open a media box if it’s poorly packaged as many are. 

So you ship knowingly against regulations because they won't check?

Solid

[Cruzin' Thru Comics]

Yea, maybe the atf or the fbi should get involved. Jeez, it’s comics. I’m not shipping drugs or bombs. God, people are so uptight. 

[ygogolak]

1 hour ago, Cruzin' Thru Comics said:

Yea, maybe the atf or the fbi should get involved. Jeez, it’s comics. I’m not shipping drugs or bombs. God, people are so uptight. 

yea, uptight....

[01TheDude]

4 hours ago, ygogolak said:

So you ship knowingly against regulations because they won't check?

Solid

I read it as them ignore the regulations only when it comes to large lots of comic books. The other items are perfectly legitimate to send media mail (TPB, Hard cover, omnibus) as they do not have advertisements and are basically just books.

I have no issue with people using media mail to send heavy books - especially when they do a great job packing them. A large lot of comic books is just "sort of" ok /somewhat justified-- though I would rather they spend a few dollars more and use a padded priority envelope with good cardboard sandwiching (or at least give the buyer the option for that type of shipping).

But when someone sends me a few books that are easily within First Class weight (even well packed) -- that is pretty frustrating. Super frustrating when they do this with a single comic book.

[FN-2199]

USPS is the largest drug trafficker in the world - they ship the most illegal narcotics. Ask your local prosecutor what their prosecution guidelines are for shipping narcotics in the mail. Drug dealers know what the threshold is and ship just under that limit so they won't get investigated/prosecuted.

Point being, USPS has real crimes to worry about that are more important than out-of-policy (not criminal) packages. I would prefer they don't scrutinize media mail and concentrate on the narcotics, precursors, detonators, bulk cash, fraudulent documents, gun parts, etc. 

I don't know why people are crucified on here for bending the rules where there is some seriously bad stuff going on in the world. Stuff that I am no longer surprised by and can't get angry at any longer for the sake of my own health. 

[Gaard]

People seem to be concentrating on the costs between media and other methods. But is one method safer than the other (as far as risk of damage to the comics)?

 

" I don't know why people are crucified on here for bending the rules where there is some seriously bad stuff going on in the world. "

I don't agree with this at all.  Akin to saying, "I know what I'm doing is wrong, but what he's doing is worse."

 

 

[FN-2199]

1 hour ago, Gaard said:

" I don't know why people are crucified on here for bending the rules where there is some seriously bad stuff going on in the world. "

I don't agree with this at all.  Akin to saying, "I know what I'm doing is wrong, but what he's doing is worse."

 

 

I feel it is more like people in glass houses are throwing stones. Are the media mail police here really not breaking any rules anywhere? They also seem to be viewing this as a violation of a criminal statute when it appears to be more of a violation of policy akin to doing deals off of eBay. 

[FN-2199]

1 hour ago, Gaard said:

People seem to be concentrating on the costs between media and other methods. But is one method safer than the other (as far as risk of damage to the comics)?

 

 

I like this. 

If you want to convince people not to break the rules and they continue to do it anyway, you have to convince them why it is in their best interest not to break the rules just because they are not getting caught. 

[Logan510]

If people want to break the rules, that's their business. I hate receiving books shipped that way because it's a shoot whether they'll arrive damaged or not.

I would never ship books to someone that way because of the above...and I'm also not a cheap arse.

[ygogolak]

7 hours ago, FN-2199 said:

I feel it is more like people in glass houses are throwing stones. Are the media mail police here really not breaking any rules anywhere? They also seem to be viewing this as a violation of a criminal statute when it appears to be more of a violation of policy akin to doing deals off of eBay. 

USPS is a government entity. eBay is private. 

[ygogolak]

9 hours ago, FN-2199 said:

USPS is the largest drug trafficker in the world - they ship the most illegal narcotics. Ask your local prosecutor what their prosecution guidelines are for shipping narcotics in the mail. Drug dealers know what the threshold is and ship just under that limit so they won't get investigated/prosecuted.

Point being, USPS has real crimes to worry about that are more important than out-of-policy (not criminal) packages. I would prefer they don't scrutinize media mail and concentrate on the narcotics, precursors, detonators, bulk cash, fraudulent documents, gun parts, etc. 

I don't know why people are crucified on here for bending the rules where there is some seriously bad stuff going on in the world. Stuff that I am no longer surprised by and can't get angry at any longer for the sake of my own health. 

If your willing to knowingly break the rules, what else are you willing to do? Not someone I would want to do business with.

[01TheDude]

6 hours ago, Logan510 said:

If people want to break the rules, that's their business. I hate receiving books shipped that way because it's a shoot whether they'll arrive damaged or not.

I would never ship books to someone that way because of the above...and I'm also not a cheap arse.

and let me add-- MOST of the time someone sends me a single comic via media mail, they spend about the same amount they would had they used eBay shipping for first class of an 8 ounce package using media mail that would cover up to 1 pound weight of packing material. SO I get the book and it is not more protected (let's say it weighs exactly 8 ounces- you can do a pretty decent job protecting a single low cost book this way)-- and they have paid as much as it would cost to send the same package first class. What they FAIL to understand is that media mail goes through a rougher mail stream that takes considerably longer to arrive and also tends to get treated like something less important. Add in the chance it gets flagged for not qualifying for media mail and the USPS penalizing the rate setting it as PRIORITY MAIL (they never just make it first class) and you end up costing the poor buyer 5 to 10 bucks on the back end in money they have to pay ---unless they refuse shipment (which most should do since sellers are not required to reimburse). IF they refuse the item, it comes back to the seller with a nasty note and they EAT the cost of the initial shipping as well as having to either provide a full refund or resending the book and paying for postage yet again (with any luck the correct way).

So for those mopes out there who think media mail is the best way to send a single comic-- PLEASE-- at the very least use more packing material to get the weight closer to the full pound you are allotted (all media mail is charged by the pound) so that the up to two week journey you are sending the book on is a little more protected than this flimsy nonsense some people send. Or better yet-- use the first class option and provide better service all around. And by all means-- PLEASE START USING EBAY SHIPPING SERVICES to print out your labels (it automatically includes tracking for no additional fee). Invest the ten or 15 bucks for a digital mail scale and weigh the items at home. Stop going through all these moronic, time wasting steps and get with the program. There is almost no need to be going to a post office these days to mail a package. NONE.

Also--  saying the USPS is somehow at fault for delivery illegal items is ridiculous. I'll bet no one (well no one with half a brain) ever tries sending illegal items through the media mail. Want to show me you are an incompetent comic book seller? Offer comics with media mail as the shipping method.

PS-- I would imagine the vast majority of us understand how this works. Why there are still any people out there doing it the cumbersome way is beyond me.