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Media Mail
Media Mail is based on weight and size not destination, making this option the most cost-effective shipping service for most domestic (United States) shipments. However, if your package weighs less than 8 ounces it’s less expensive if you ship using First-Class Mail.Requirements to Ship
Your project must meet the following criteria in order to ship it as Media Mail. If you try to ship Media Mail without meeting the requirements listed below you open yourself up to hefty fines.
- Package must weigh less than 70lbs
- Media shipped must be educational material: books, CDs, DVDs
- Your printed project may not contain advertising
- Books must be at least 8 pages
What Doesn’t Qualify
- Games – Board and Card
- Catalogs
- Magazines
Media Mail packages are subject to inspection so if you think you may breach any of these requirements, play it safe and ship First Class or Priority instead.
Cost and Turnaround Time
USPS changes postage rates regularly so we recommend checking the media mail postage cost on their site rather than a third parties. Remember this is just the postage cost, it does not cover packaging cost or handling if you are using a fulfillment service.
Turnaround time is slower than other shipping services, but if you’re looking for cost effective then 2-10 days may be a good trade off.
What Classifies as Advertising
Advertising includes paid advertising and the publishers‘ own advertising in display, classified, or editorial style. Catalogs and magazines do not qualify for media mail because of the nature of their purpose being advertising.
Books can contain announcements of other books, this does not count as advertising. For example, if your project has a page announcing your sequel then you can still ship using media mail.