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One of our subscribers emailed us and recommended we let each of you know about the potential implications of using USPS Media Mail. Please consider her words carefully as you select your shipping method (thanks very much, Michaele!):
Media mail shipping -
I'm all for saving money, but you may want to let your customers know that if they order anything from you, and it is shipped media mail, all of the careful packaging in the world that you do will not stop it from being opened for inspection at any point (and it could be more than one point - each place it stops they make their own decisions on what to open) on its destination by a postal inspector whose job it is to make sure people are not abusing the media mail privilege. It is too bad that those of us who are honest have to pay the price for those who are not.
For example, new magazines can go out with a low shipping rate, but if you buy a bunch of OLDER magazines and have them shipped in a box, they can no longer be considered media mail (not sure why) but are categorized as something else, maybe collector's items. They check for this.
Therefore, if one is expecting a new item from you, and the box gets opened, one may not be assured that the items (if not shrinkwrapped) will be in as nice condition as when mailed. Or that the careful packaging job you did will be repackaged as nicely.
I have been disappointed in the past by packages arriving that were packaged carefully, ripped open messily, inspected, haphazardly replaced, and barely taped up again. I felt rather violated that something I ordered, addressed to me, could be opened in this way - manhandled, shoved back in, and any semblance of privacy I'd hoped to have, shredded.
Also, if ANYTHING in the box is not covered under the media mail shipping - let's say you send a little gift along with an order that is not media, that negates the ability to use the media mail price structure.
I'm sure much of this you know, but your customers may not, and that might make a difference for some in how they want their orders shipped, and they may be willing to pay extra for the privilege of being the first to open their own purchased package.
I'm all for saving money, but you may want to let your customers know that if they order anything from you, and it is shipped media mail, all of the careful packaging in the world that you do will not stop it from being opened for inspection at any point (and it could be more than one point - each place it stops they make their own decisions on what to open) on its destination by a postal inspector whose job it is to make sure people are not abusing the media mail privilege. It is too bad that those of us who are honest have to pay the price for those who are not.
For example, new magazines can go out with a low shipping rate, but if you buy a bunch of OLDER magazines and have them shipped in a box, they can no longer be considered media mail (not sure why) but are categorized as something else, maybe collector's items. They check for this.
Therefore, if one is expecting a new item from you, and the box gets opened, one may not be assured that the items (if not shrinkwrapped) will be in as nice condition as when mailed. Or that the careful packaging job you did will be repackaged as nicely.
I have been disappointed in the past by packages arriving that were packaged carefully, ripped open messily, inspected, haphazardly replaced, and barely taped up again. I felt rather violated that something I ordered, addressed to me, could be opened in this way - manhandled, shoved back in, and any semblance of privacy I'd hoped to have, shredded.
Also, if ANYTHING in the box is not covered under the media mail shipping - let's say you send a little gift along with an order that is not media, that negates the ability to use the media mail price structure.
I'm sure much of this you know, but your customers may not, and that might make a difference for some in how they want their orders shipped, and they may be willing to pay extra for the privilege of being the first to open their own purchased package.
