What is your answer when in the post office ask about what is in the box?

[jbacunn]

This is not correct. Media mail is for all "normal" books (from trashy paperback fiction to textbooks and everything between) and certain other "media" (music and dvds, for example, both fall under the classification for "sound recording" and are allowed). Regardless of the usps website advertising, it's not limited to educational materials. When in doubt as to postal rules, always consult the DMM (Domestic Mail Manual) - it's the bottom line in what's what.

http://pe.usps.com/text/dmm300/173.htm

From the DMM:

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 eightprinted 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 andguides 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.

***.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.

****.Loose-leaf pages and their binders consisting of medical information fordistribution 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.

I think the issue potentially with comic books is that they contain advertising and it says above no advertising matter other than incidental announcement of books.

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[justafrog]

I think the issue potentially with comic books is that they contain advertising and it says above no advertising matter other than incidental announcement of books.

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Yeah, I think so too - and technically I think they aren't allowed media mail (though their beefier cousins, graphic novels, are). However, I think that particular rule is stupid and on the rare occasion I ship comics I sometimes "forget" and send them media.

[jbacunn]

Yeah, I think so too - and technically I think they aren't allowed media mail (though their beefier cousins, graphic novels, are). However, I think that particular rule is stupid and on the rare occasion I ship comics I sometimes "forget" and send them media.

I should say that some publishers have advertisements and some don't. Image comics and some others only have ads for other comics which would technically qualify for media mail while others such as Marvel and DC do have ads so they would technically not qualify.

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[sroster]

I was never asked what I was shipping but I had a bit of a disturbing experience.  I was walking up to my door and our mail carrier (who was new and I had only seen a couple of times before) saw me and my son coming in the door.  She said "ooooh you must be the little guy that gets all the legos!".  I of course have been ordering tons of legos but not once did they come in a box that indicates they are legos.  Of course TLG sends in a plain brown box.  So either they are shaking my boxes and determining they are legos or peeking somehow!

[Kriterian]

What is your answer when in the post office ask about what is in the box?

Im a little curious about the answer you can give me!!!

In my first sell i answer ( its a lego set) but i want to know if its fine to say that?

What did you say?

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It's best to tell the truth. They're basically trying to keep people from just using a vague term (electronics, weapon parts, medicine) that could include illegal/hazardous materials. 

 

You need to say headphones, not electronics, because lithium batteries can't be shipped via air.

[tractorboy]

I always write LEGO on my customs sticker that I have to attach to boxes and packages going abroad. Not least because US customers don't have to pay duty on LEGO as far as I know.