Media mail and feedback

[bojay1997]

I already knew before posting that my definition of Media Mail is not the same as the USPS. I was giving my opinion (that is what forums are for), and actually it does have relevance because what I just listed as media mail eligible items used to actually be the USPS definition of Media Mail. It's unfortunate that people have abused it by shipping jars of jelly or other obvious non-media items because it is making it much harder to ship using that service. It has saved me from canceling book orders or other heavy media items since they can make you eat a lot of the shipping costs when sites charge the buyer the same shipping costs regardless of the item. I still occasionally use Media Mail when shipping items that fit my definition and the postal employees know it because they believe the same thing I do.

 

But your opinion about what is and what isn't media mail is completely irrelevant. The only thing relevant is what the post office says it is now. You can certainly share opinions about what the OP posted and plans to do, but trying to argue that media mail used to be something else has zero relevance to the current discussion. Similarly, the fact that some postal employees take the position that their own policies shouldn't be enforced is disturbing and also irrelevant. If the package is opened and the contents don't comply, the recipient will be charged the difference. I know this for a fact, as I have had that experience several times and each time I paid several times what the seller spent to send the package and this additional postage directly to the post office, so I paid many more times the actual postage rate through zero fault of my own.

Edited October 11, 2012 by bojay1997

[Crazy Climber]

Here is the problem...

Some people that work for the post office DO NOT KNOW that video games are NOT media mail!!! Yes, it's TRUE!!

 

I have one clerk that I have to lie to and say I'm not shipping video games because he always asks me in casual conversation what I'm shipping, when I told him video games one time he mentioned AFTER he rang everything up that he "saved me a few bucks" by shipping them media mail (instead of priority which I requested) because video games are media...I even said I don't think those qualify and his response was "nonsense, video games are media"

 

I didn't want to deal with the hassle of redoing it all (was in a hurry, on lunch break) and they were small items so I let it slide, even though I knew damn well they didn't qualify (luckily everything arrived intact without additional charges) but...the fact remains, if you are not an avid video game seller, you may NOT know that they do not qualify especially when people at the freakin post office tell you it's okay. I'm sure my clerk felt he was doing me a favor since I'm a regular there.

 

I think a nuetral was too harsh, he really may not have known. Is this a known video game seller or just some dude clearing out the garage? If he sells games regularly then he knows, if it's just joe blow selling his old atari then you should have just messaged him....

[Chuck D. Head]

It is true, true, true that the USPS employees dont really understand the requirements for media mail and it got to the point I felt like I was trolling them:

 

Me: "Media Mail please"

Postal guy: "ok what are you shipping?"

Me: "COMIC BOOKS"

PG: "you can't ship comic books Media Mail"

Me: "is that what the rule says?"

PG: "yep"

Me: "Nope, it says no advertising other than incidental notices of other books available"

PG: "yeah, comis books have ads"

Me: "these are from the 40's and don't have any ads"

PG: "oh"

 

One time he had to call someone for help (and I was intentionally trolling this time) I sold a reproduction 1900's Sears catalog on eBay, which while all advertising, was advertising sold as entertainment. I planned that one before I even listed the item :evil:

 

Other things I havent ever gotten a straight answer on and yes I have shipped media mail in those gray areas, but with my customer agreeing to it and not for nickle /diming more profit.

[krslam]

Media mail shipping was a recurring sore point back in my ebay selling days. I was selling many old videogame/computer magazines that didn't qualify because they contain ads, and was constantly barraged with demands that I use the service anyway (and by lots of people claiming that magazines did qualify because their local PO said it was OK despite the printed rules). Even got a couple messages from ebay claiming I was overcharging for shipping. Threads like this remind me why I'm so much happier having abandoned ebay, their seller-hating rules and monopolistic fees, and the many idiots who shop there. Present company excluded, of course .

[+FujiSkunk]

I have one clerk that I have to lie to and say I'm not shipping video games because he always asks me in casual conversation what I'm shipping, when I told him video games one time he mentioned AFTER he rang everything up that he "saved me a few bucks" by shipping them media mail (instead of priority which I requested) because video games are media...I even said I don't think those qualify and his response was "nonsense, video games are media"

 

I had the very same thing happen once when I was shipping cartridges! Fortunately that was before the post office started getting really anal about the media mail rules.

 

I actually agree cartridges aren't media, but [opinion]I think banning all video games is going a step too far[/opinion]. But, them's the rules, and I'd rather see my package arrive safely and fully intact than get ransacked along the way.

 

I also agree if it's really causing the post office so much grief they should just can media mail altogether. If memory serves, the automated kiosks don't even offer it as an option anyway.

Edited October 11, 2012 by FujiSkunk

[nopaybob]

Well I am getting ready to leave a neg for this seller. Before the case was closed I informed the seller I would like to be reimbursed for return shipping. I have received a refund for the original purchase and the case was closed. I just tried to contact the seller but it seems I am blocked from sending any type of message to this person.

I'm glad I waited before leaving feedback. I was able to get out a message to this seller through the contact member option on their feedback page. The seller has responded and said the would reimburse the return postage. I will be leaving a positive.

[Armonigann]

Stop your crying about people shipping media mail! As long as you receive, be f@#kin' happy. There are at least 2 people in this thread alone, that have sent my items through media, and one of them did it twice! Maybe I should go back and revise their FB to a neg/ntrl, since they're saying that's what they would do. The PO and Feebay is already stickin' everyone in the ass w/ high postage and fees. So, if you can get away with it, good for you, but if you get caught be prepared to go to hell.

[frrrosty3]

Stop your crying about people shipping media mail! As long as you receive, be f@#kin' happy. There are at least 2 people in this thread alone, that have sent my items through media, and one of them did it twice! Maybe I should go back and revise their FB to a neg/ntrl, since they're saying that's what they would do. The PO and Feebay is already stickin' everyone in the ass w/ high postage and fees. So, if you can get away with it, good for you, but if you get caught be prepared to go to hell.

 

AMEN TO YOU! Media Mail gets a bum rap and I've been defending it since when it is necessary it has helped me out a lot. I am an avid seller (at least 5,000 shipments in the past 10 years) and do use media mail on rare occasion to ship video games to which I have NEVER had a problem. Maybe I'm just lucky and don't see what the big hubbub is about. If the PO doesn't want anything with advertisement to ship Media then there would be basically nothing that could go that way. I told them that and they agreed.

Edited October 11, 2012 by frrrosty3

[+FujiSkunk]

People who ship media mail are not the problem. People who ship media mail knowing they are breaking the rules, and especially those who do so while charging what normal priority mail postage would have cost, are the problem.

 

I'll continue to ship media mail when the situation properly calls for it, but I still say if it's getting so many people's panties in a wad that maybe it's best just to ditch it anyway. But until that happens, or until the post office adopts some saner rules about it, what we have is what we have. Try to game the system for more, and you do so at your own peril.

Edited October 11, 2012 by FujiSkunk

[Chuck D. Head]

If the PO doesn't want anything with advertisement to ship Media then there would be basically nothing that could go that way. I told them that and they agreed.

 

One would assume that the original intent of this was to keep advertisers from gaming the system. My dad used to sell old time radio shows on cassette and a postal clerk knowing what it was asked if the shows had the commercials still in them, which many did and tried to deny him the service. Unbeknowst to them, my dad had brown nosed the local postmaster long before and got his blessing. God forbid Signal Gasoline or Fatima Cigarettes get a free ride on their advertising fifty years later.

[Grig]

One would assume that the original intent of this was to keep advertisers from gaming the system. My dad used to sell old time radio shows on cassette and a postal clerk knowing what it was asked if the shows had the commercials still in them, which many did and tried to deny him the service. Unbeknowst to them, my dad had brown nosed the local postmaster long before and got his blessing. God forbid Signal Gasoline or Fatima Cigarettes get a free ride on their advertising fifty years later.

 

hahahaha - yep, I think I'll go out right now and buy me some Groves Nose Drops and a bar of Lifebuoy Health Soap!!!

[+wood_jl]

Agreed - as long as YOU RECEIVE your stuff and it isn't beat-to-shit, why bitch? It's when your stuff is beat-to-shit and YOU must cover return shipping costs, that I'll be sympathetic.

[Chuck D. Head]

hahahaha - yep, I think I'll go out right now and buy me some Groves Nose Drops and a bar of Lifebuoy Health Soap!!!

Speaking of which, I have a vintage bar of Lifeboy from the 4o's and make my kids lick it every christmas.

[Grig]

Speaking of which, I have a vintage bar of Lifeboy from the 4o's and make my kids lick it every christmas.

 

awesome

[+wood_jl]

Agreed - as long as YOU RECEIVE your stuff and it isn't beat-to-shit, why bitch? It's when your stuff is beat-to-shit and YOU must cover return shipping costs, that I'll be sympathetic.

 

In retrospect, I was just sore because the scenario I described was mine. I was overbearing. Apology to shadow460.

 

(does 460 mean 460 c.i. Ford, or what?)