Media mail is just about the least expensive shipping method the US Postal Service offers. But many people abuse it, sometimes intentionally, and sometimes unintentionally. So how do you get media mail rates, and more importantly, what qualifies as media mail? What is considered media mail by the USPS?
Generally speaking, for things to qualify as media mail, remember two rules. If you wouldn’t find it in a public library or university library, it probably doesn’t qualify. And if it contains advertising, even very old ads that are no longer valid, it almost certainly doesn’t qualify. If it’s a book or a sound recording with only incidental announcements, it’s OK. Anything beyond that is only OK if it meets very specific criteria.
David Farquhar is a computer security professional, entrepreneur, and author. He has written professionally about computers since 1991, so he was writing about retro computers when they were still new. He has been working in IT professionally since 1994 and has specialized in vulnerability management since 2013. He holds Security+ and CISSP certifications. Today he blogs five times a week, mostly about retro computers and retro gaming covering the time period from 1975 to 2000.
