Priority Mail Cost Versus Parcel Post Mail Cost
 

Once upon a time, parcel post was the way to mail packages.

Now, it's a good idea to check both priority and parcel post rates.

I am going to mail a package that weighs 52 ounces from Minnesota to Iowa.

Going through PayPal - the cost for priority mail will be $6.98. The cost for parcel post will be $7.52, plus I would need to buy packaging (Tyvek envelope)

I was surprised.

You do get a discount printing out your own labels on paypal. That might be part of the difference.

yes, you get an online discount on Priority and First Class Mail, not on Parcel Post or Media.

FIrst class parcels are now CHEAPER to print postage online than put stamps on them, and that is with Delivery Confirmation with the online postage.

I had a package to send to my daughter. I could fit the potholders and a towel in the "all you can stuff in a box" box for $15.+. I got a regular paper box, stuffed the potholders and towel PLUS 3 more towels into that box. I went online to the USPS and calculated ------- that box was cheaper to send. Yes, it was not Priority -- but what I was sending wasn't "needed" right away. I actually saved something like $4.00. I always go online and figure out what it will cost for every scenario.

yes, the USPS will always try to "upsell" you and make you think the Flat Rate boxes are the greatest thing since sliced bread. It pays to be aware, have your own scale, and look rates up online.

I almost always check on the USPS site and compare to get an idea of what shipping will cost.

One should not send magazines or newspapers via media mail. (Makes no sense to me - but that's what I was told)

time should also be taken into consideration when choosing the best way to go- generally the packages i send out 'Priority Mail' take 2-5 days to arrive at destination---i've had parcel post packages take 3 months= or longer---i had one package that i sent out parcel post in October (the person receiving requested this) she did not receive the package until the following March!---and the whole time in between she was kind of (upset- hurt toward me= i had no delivery tracking (another thing she did not think was necessary) she thought i only said i sent it---) when it finally arrived she did apologize for the bad feelings she had had--and the things she had been telling people--but of course it was a little to late for much damage control- so now i insist on priority, insurance and delivery confirmation on every package i send through the mail- regardless of how much more it may cost- it is not worth a buck or two savings to go through what we went through.

You do have to keep checking what the rates are. There are new "Regional Rate" boxes that weren't available a few years ago, plus while we always hear in the news that USPS is raising the cost for a first-class stamp, when they raise parcel rates there isn't nearly as much talk about it.

At least there hasn't been any trouble with sending stUFFed flat-rate envelopes in over a year. They are sticking by the "if it fits, it ships" slogan (provided that the envelope does not exceed the weight limit).

There is another alternative to insuring through USPS. It's www.shipsurance.com ... and it costs less to insure through them than it does through USPS. Plus they will insure things that USPS won't, such as flat-rate Priority Mail International envelopes.

I self-insure for most domestic shipments (which rarely get lost) ... but I wouldn't want to send an international package without insurance. All in all, I would probably come out a little farther ahead by self-insuring those as well, but I don't like to worry, and I hate unpleasant surprises. So it's worth spending a little extra for the peace of mind it buys.

Magazines and newspapers have advertisements. Books and DVDs do not.

I believe that it also has to do with current issues vs past issues, and whether the advertisements are active or obsolete. They’ve allowed me to send old magazines and catalogs (5-15 years old) using Media Mail here at my Post Office, since the ads were pretty much obsolete, or at least not current marketing.

CD in Oklahoma

Then you are lucky, as it is definitely against PO rules, no matter how old the magazine is. A lot of PO clerks like to make things up as they go along IMO. You may find it gets opened along the way (Media Mail is subject to inspection) and then the recipient gets charged for the Priority rate for that shipment. Can be a very unpleasant surprise.

Yea, I may have just lucked out. I’m really not sure what the determining factor is.
Didn’t it used to be called “Book Rate”? Books and DVDs tend to have advertising in them. Some books have ads about the newest release from either the Publisher and/or the Author, and I haven’t seen a DVD for a long time that didn’t include a lengthy prelude of “Coming Attractions” that I had to navigate through. That’s current advertising.
Is it not advertising that makes the determination? What are the PO rules that you are aware of?

CD in Oklahoma

From the DMM

4.0 Content Standards for Media Mail

4.1 Qualified Items

Only these items may be mailed at the Media Mail prices:

a.Books, including books issued to supplement other books, of at least eight printed pages, consisting wholly of reading matter or scholarly bibliography, or reading matter with incidental blank spaces for notations and containing no advertising matter other than incidental announcements of books. Advertising includes paid advertising and the publishers' own advertising in display, classified, or editorial style.

b.16-millimeter or narrower width films, which must be positive prints in final form for viewing, and catalogs of such films of 24 pages or more (at least 22 of which are printed). Films and film catalogs sent to or from commercial theaters do not qualify for the Media Mail price.

c.Printed music, whether in bound or sheet form.

d.Printed objective test materials and their accessories used by or on behalf of educational institutions to test ability, aptitude, achievement, interests, and other mental and personal qualities with or without answers, test scores, or identifying information recorded thereon in writing or by mark.

e.Sound recordings, including incidental announcements of recordings and guides or scripts prepared solely for use with such recordings. Video recordings and player piano rolls are classified as sound recordings.

f.Playscripts and manuscripts for books, periodicals, and music.

g.Printed educational reference charts designed to instruct or train individuals for improving or developing their capabilities. Each chart must be a single printed sheet of information designed for educational reference. The information on the chart, which may be printed on one or both sides of the sheet, must be conveyed primarily by graphs, diagrams, tables, or other nonnarrative matter. An educational reference chart is normally but not necessarily devoted to one subject. A chart on which the information is conveyed primarily by textual matter in a narrative form does not qualify as a printed educational reference chart for mailing at the Media Mail prices even if it includes graphs, diagrams, or tables. Examples of qualifying charts include maps produced primarily for educational reference, tables of mathematical or scientific equations, noun declensions or verb conjugations used in the study of languages, periodic table of elements, botanical or zoological tables, and other tables used in the study of science.

h.Loose-leaf pages and their binders consisting of medical information for distribution to doctors, hospitals, medical schools, and medical students.

i.Computer-readable media containing prerecorded information and guides or scripts prepared solely for use with such media.