|
Currently in my Shopping cart I have 6 Runebound expansion card sets and I am only offered Priority mail shipping, I decided this time to compare the price to another company I use a lot for my Gaming and they were offering the same items shipped to me with media mail shipping which is cheaper.
Is there a reason you guys don't offer media mail shipping for these items?
|
Currently in my Shopping cart I have 6 Runebound expansion card sets and I am only offered Priority mail shipping, I decided this time to compare the price to another company I use a lot for my Gaming and they were offering the same items shipped to me with media mail shipping which is cheaper.
Is there a reason you guys don't offer media mail shipping for these items?
Technically, Cards are not (to quote from the usps website) "books, sound recordings, recorded video tapes, printed music, and recorded computer-readable media (such as CDs, DVDs, and diskettes)" Therefore it is illegal to ship them media mail
Chief Technical Officer
|
Currently in my Shopping cart I have 6 Runebound expansion card sets and I am only offered Priority mail shipping, I decided this time to compare the price to another company I use a lot for my Gaming and they were offering the same items shipped to me with media mail shipping which is cheaper.
Is there a reason you guys don't offer media mail shipping for these items?
Yes—that package doesn't qualify for the Media Mail rate.
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.
So, products that contain cards cannot be mailed as Media Mail; these products may additionally be disqualified if they contain any kind of advertising—on the packaging or inside it—even for the publisher's own products.
(Because of the "no advertising" restriction, we don't use Media Mail for anything, as almost every product we sell that would otherwise qualify contains some sort of disqualifying advertisement for something else.)
|
Chief Technical Officer
|
Currently in my Shopping cart I have 6 Runebound expansion card sets and I am only offered Priority mail shipping...
I forgot to mention that you're probably in the International Priority rate because your package would be over 4 pounds; if you split your order into smaller chunks, they'd probably qualify for Standard shipping, which costs so much less than Priority that you'd save money (even though you'd be paying for two or more packages).
|
|
Currently in my Shopping cart I have 6 Runebound expansion card sets and I am only offered Priority mail shipping...I forgot to mention that you're probably in the International Priority rate because your package would be over 4 pounds; if you split your order into smaller chunks, they'd probably qualify for Standard shipping, which costs so much less than Priority that you'd save money (even though you'd be paying for two or more packages).
Vic.... I am not International.....
If it doesn't qualify... why can the other company do it?...They lying to the Post Office?
|
Chief Technical Officer
|
Vic.... I am not International.....
Oops—I knew you went to Gen Con UK, so I assumed... I'll have to check tomorrow to see why Priority is the only option, then.
If it doesn't qualify... why can the other company do it?...They lying to the Post Office?
They probably don't understand the regulations; they could get in trouble if they do that regularly and the USPS figures it out. (Also, if the USPS happens to inspect the package, they'd probably return it to the shipper and make them reship it properly—which would make it take a whole lot longer to get to you!)
|
|
Vic.... I am not International.....Oops—I knew you went to Gen Con UK, so I assumed... I'll have to check tomorrow to see why Priority is the only option, then.
Priority is always my only option through you guys when I order stuff not on my subscription... thought that was normal...
My mailing address is Not international..it is a APO and you can send standard mail to APO..
I am in Germany though.
|
Chief Technical Officer
|
I'll look into why you're only getting Priority on Monday. (There's probably a really good reason for it.)
(Also, if the USPS happens to inspect the package, they'd probably return it to the shipper and make them reship it properly—which would make it take a whole lot longer to get to you!)
I should also mention that in this case, the shipper will also have to eat the difference between the shipping rate you paid them for and the shipping rate they were supposed to use, and that will probably cost them all of the profit they would have made on your order. And if the USPS realizes that they're doing this a lot, potential fines could cost them a whole lot more than that. In short, using an invalid shipping method is not a great long-term business strategy.
|
Chief Technical Officer
|
I'll look into why you're only getting Priority on Monday. (There's probably a really good reason for it.)
Sure enough, it's correct. Internationally, our carrier for "standard shipping" doesn't care about the contents of the package—they care only that it's under 4 pounds.
However, domestically (and APOs count as domestic), they *do* care what's in the package. They'll take parcels containing at least 50% Bound Printed Matter (that is, books) up to 15 pounds... but if it's not at least 50% BPM, they'll only take packages under 1 pound. Your package would be about 2.3 pounds, and cards don't qualify as Bound Printed Matter, so our carrier won't handle it. Furthermore, USPS First Class cuts off at 13 oz, so that leaves USPS Priority as the only valid choice we have for your package.
There is, though, one non-obvious thing that could potentially reduce your shipping cost: If you add enough Bound Printed Matter to outweigh the non-Bound Printed Matter—I'd estimate about 250 pages or so—then our standard shipping carrier will take your package. I'm not *sure* if the result would be cheaper, but it's probably worth trying.
(Aren't postal regulations fun?)
|
|
I'll look into why you're only getting Priority on Monday. (There's probably a really good reason for it.)Sure enough, it's correct. Internationally, our carrier for "standard shipping" doesn't care about the contents of the package—they care only that it's under 4 pounds.
However, domestically (and APOs count as domestic), they *do* care what's in the package. They'll take parcels containing at least 50% Bound Printed Matter (that is, books) up to 15 pounds... but if it's not at least 50% BPM, they'll only take packages under 1 pound. Your package would be about 2.3 pounds, and cards don't qualify as Bound Printed Matter, so our carrier won't handle it. Furthermore, USPS First Class cuts off at 13 oz, so that leaves USPS Priority as the only valid choice we have for your package.
There is, though, one non-obvious thing that could potentially reduce your shipping cost: If you add enough Bound Printed Matter to outweigh the non-Bound Printed Matter—I'd estimate about 250 pages or so—then our standard shipping carrier will take your package. I'm not *sure* if the result would be cheaper, but it's probably worth trying.
(Aren't postal regulations fun?)
Yeah,,,they are really fun...
Nah... any of the books I order through you I get through my Subscription, all others I get through Amazon...
I will just leave the order as is.. and when I am ready will order it.