Media mail...?

[LizH]

My boyfriend just moved to the West coast about 3 weeks ago. His birthday (24!) was June 28th, his second weekend there. I put his present in the mail 7 days ago because I didn’t realize how long it would take to snail mail things from Maryland to California. It should get there today, but I’m not sure it will. I mailed him a book safe (a hardcover book with the center cut out and the pages glued together for hiding things), Hershey’s kisses, and a handwritten note in one package and a gift certificate to a café near his new house separately. He already got the gift certificate because it was mailed from the cafe.

The other package should arrive today, but it was sent through media mail because I didn’t show the woman at the post office that it wasn’t really a book. The candy and note were inside the book and there was a small note on the book that reads, “open me!” According to the USPS website, media mail is not allowed to have any sort of notation on it and is frequently opened and checked. If they decide it’s not appropriate for media mail, it gets sent first class instead and gets delivered to him with a stamp that says “postage due” aka we owe USPS money. AH. Has anyone dealt with this problem before? Hopefully this is a helpful heads up for anyone sending things through media mail.

[silvermoonfairy3]

I put his present in the mail 7 days ago because I didn’t realize how long it would take to snail mail things from Maryland to California.

It's only taking that long because you used Media Mail. That's the slowest option, designed to be the budget-friendly choice for heavy things like books, not to be the fast choice. You can ask the post office for fastest, or if that's too expensive, ask what the options are, and they'll tell you how an estimate of many days each option takes and the price.

Has anyone dealt with this problem before? Hopefully this is a helpful heads up for anyone sending things through media mail.

I haven't, but that's only because I never use Media Mail. In addition to being slow, it's intended for things like educational materials (textbooks, etc.) which I never mail. I'd suggest not using Media Mail for general mailing.

[whatruckus]

I usually buy the postage label and everything myself on USPS.com. And, when it asks for weight, I always estimate it to be a little over than what it is. It usually ships Priority I think. Then I just use some box sitting around my house that we're about to throw out (we online/catalog order a lot in my house lol) to put stuff in.

I don't think I would ever use Media Mail. I always opt for Priority, even if it's a little more expensive. At least then, you can add insurance to it if it gets lost, plus you know it'll get there within 3 days or so.