So you are saying that the comic superman # 1 is worth less than some cheap advertising????

Ive actually had an item returned....the delivery was not completed and i "forfeited" my initial postage paid. When I disputed it I was threatened that it was a federal offense to ship/lie about contents and that was then subjected to fines and jail time.

I have since given the matter a heave to the trash and follow USPS guidlines.

and as for what someone else stated sometimes its better not to make waves....because when you make waves sometimes they build wave breaks......

DELIVERY CONFIRMATION DOES NOT REQUIRE A SIGNATURE.SIGNATURE CONFIRMATION ON THE OTHER HAND,WELL

As a new ebay user it seems to me that shipping comics is a profitmaker to some dealers. I don't begrudge anybody making money but I've had shipping rates from 2.95 to 6.00 on one comic. Am I just being a complainer or right.

Hi-

I am shipping using boxes bought from comicproship dot com.  I use media mail labels printed from ebay and have not yet been questioned or have anything returned with over 600 books shipped.  It's a box with books in it.  Who cares, right? and I save a ton of time and postage doing it this way.  What's wrong with the PO anyway.  They have bigger things to worry about.

You never make any significant amount of money shipping comics anyway.  It takes time and money to list and ship comics and everyone gets a piece of your hard work.  $2.38 is the current media rate, but the PO just changed their rate to something ridiculous like 11.95 for a standard priority box.  UPS costs less than that and they actually insure your stuff.

I've always been told by the USPS that magazines and comics containing any ads CAN'T be shipped Media Mail but I've shipped hundreds using MM and have never had a problem. Trade editions and graphic novels should be well within the rules since there's no ads at all, even house ads.

It's a hypocritical policy since the vast majority of DVDs & Blu-Rays contain advertising in the form of previews and promotion for other DVDs & BRs. Even paperback books can contain promotion pages for the publisher's other titles. Clearly Media Mail rate was established at the behest of the home video, music and book publishing industries as a way to make shipping for these items cheaper and thus increase online sales, especially for large multi-DVD/CD editions where the weight of such items would result in costlier shipping rates and lower overall sales.

As usual media such as comics were ignored when drafting the guidelines for this service since the home video, music industry and publishing lobbies only wanted this adavantageous rate to be used for their products, keeping their costs down and sales up.

If you print your shipping labels on eBay, you won't have to go through this hassle. You will also save money. Just choose Media Mail as your service and add DC for just $.19. However, I would only do this on two comics or more, because to most zip codes, shipping just one comic via MM with DC will actually cost you $.04 more than First Class! Don't even deal with the clerks and/or managers. Then, just drop it in the box for pickup, and don't stamp it "Media Mail." That will just draw attention to your package. Parcel Post is a rip-off, and most customers do not want to pay $5 or $6 (including handling) for postage. If you get an email from your customer telling you that they had to pick up the MM package and pay extra for the First Class rate, just give them a refund for the difference. The only chance you are taking is getting a neg. from somebody with a feather up their arse. After that, you will probably never even consider using it!

gphmultimedia wrote:

Actually, they upgrade it to First Class, not Priority. That is on the USPS web site.

maybe for something under 13oz....but anyone spending money on media mail instead of first class for something under 13oz is just plain crazy.

I'm going to take a wild guess and say you haven't read any of this thread at all?

Media Mail is for Libraries and Non Profit Organizations to ship books around the world for a low cost.

Wrong in many ways. One example is that it's not just books that are allowed to go Media Mail

We ALL know comic books have advertisements!!!

TPBs don't. Neither do GNs. I have many Indy books that also don't have ads, and for many years Mad magazine wouldn't allow any outside advertising. And what about those old comics, where none of the ads are current, all advertisers have gone out of business?

Media Mail says No advertisements PERIOD!!!

Nope. That's why this thread is stickied and has been ongoing for 8 years.

It's really not fair to the buyer if the ad says Priority, or First Class, and when they get it, they notice it was shipped Media Mail,

Whoa, something I agree with!

Why would you even send something that takes up to 10 days for the buyer to receive?

Because some of us aren't drooling fanboys(girls) and can wait. Plus why would I pay more for a comic than the shipping costs? Media Mail is great for books under $10.

Why would you send something Media Mail KNOWING it is subject to inspection?

Why do you break the law by speeding every day when you know you could get caught?

Why risk the damage that's done to packages sent Media Mail b/c they are "in route" for so long? 

Then you're out the comics & the MONEY (someone WILL open a case, IF the item is DAMAGED b/c it's no longer "item as described" & they will get their money back.

If you actually know how to pack comic books, this isn't a problem.

If you ship things Media Mail that shouldn't be shipped Media Mail, you have ZERO respect for others, and their belongings.

Shove your holier-than-thou attitude right up your azz!

You put 20 comics in a Priority envelope? No thank you. I'd much rather have a boxed shipment arrive Media Mail than 20 comics stuffed into an envelope.

Hello everyone,

Where I live (Laredo, Tx.). I have never ever encountered the problem of my comics being sent back to me when being shipped somewhere in the U.S.A. Nonetheless, I have encountered disputes with my carrier when I told him that I was shipping "comic books" to California. He paused and told me right-off-the-bat that I cannot send any books with advertisements since it deals with regulations. The amount of comics I was sending are 86 of them, and never in my life have I ever been told that I cannot send comics of this magnitude Media Mail.

The price for sending them to California (Media Mail) is $9.00 exactly. SUPERIFIC!!!! But since it has advertisements I have to ship it Priority Mail which is--drum-roll please--$21.00...

What the @#$@#$??!?! I argued with the carrier and used my sweet-talk with him (I'm a guy just to let you know, which the 'sweet-talk' is arguing with him) and he told me he would send it but it "might" be checked for inspection in San Antonio. (So he was nice about it.) (I sent it out today so I will update this thread of the outcome of these comics.)

I have sent over 20 packages containing at least 30 or more comics and never in my life have I ever had the comics returned to me. So to put this in contrast over our dilemma over comics, go balls-deep and send those comics Media Mail. I would completely risk it for the amount I would have to pay, and make sure when the carrier says, "What are you going to send today, sir/mam?" You reply, "Books." That is it! If it weighs less than 1 pound, then print-out the musical of "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" and say you are going to be sending "comic books" through Media Mail and prove to them that you can.

And that is all to it guys!

Have a good one everybody!

Go balls-deep Media Mail!!!!

Media mail is NOT the same as parcel post (parcel select).  Parcel rates are the biggest rip-off the postal service has to offer...on large packages, parcel rate is usually just a few bucks behind the obscene priority charge...and to top it all off the postal service plays football with parcel packages.