DC Conspiracy[dots pattern]

11.16.2005

The Small Presser, No. 19: "The Postman Cometh!"

Your book is all done, nicely printed and stitched, and now the orders are arriving. You grab your books, stuff them into an envelope, and head to the post office. But before you slap on a stamp, see where you can save a little money.

First, go to the scale and see how much the book would cost to send first class. A 24-page, digest-size book printed on 20-lbs. paper will cost you 60 cents. If it’s slightly heavier, it’ll bump up to 83 cents.

If you’re sending several copies to one location, let’s say a comic book store, consider using the “media mail” option. This special rate is reserved only for media, which includes books, magazines, CDs, videos and the like. It’s based on weight of the package, and it usually takes an extra day to get there, but it will save you some considerable change.

The postal worker will ask you if there is media in the package and only media (meaning, no personal letters or anything like that). They do this because people on occasion abuse this reduced-rate option. They will try to send a whole bunch of things that aren’t media. The post office has a right to open and inspect the package—and they do! My postman told me on one occasion they opened a huge box and found clothes inside and in another instance they found a plastic Christmas tree! (Apparently, the bells hinted that sometime was awry.)

Since media rate is mainly for bulk, sometimes the first-class rate will be lower than the media rate, which begins at $1.42 for packages under one pound. Your postman should tell you which one is cheaper after he weighs the package.
If you plan on sending some books overseas, it’ll cost you mucho. This week I send three 24-page digest-size books to Ireland by air mail (Global Priority Mail) and it cost me $4.80. (It’ll get there in four to six days.)

If time is not an issue for you and you’ve got a hefty package to send, you can send the comics by surface mail (Global Economy). It’ll cost you about a quarter to a third of the air mail price (depending on destination) but it’ll take a whole lot longer to get there. The Postal Service says packages get there in four to six week, but I sent a package to India via surface mail and it took nearly six months! (I guess it's a really loooong boat ride!)

And before I forget, remember that the Postal Service will be raising the cost of mailing next year. Starting January 8, a first-class stamp will be 39 cent and it’ll cost 24 cents to send a post card. That means that it’ll cost 63 cents (an extra 3 cents) to mail the same digest-size book I mentioned above.

If you’re mailing Priority Mail, which takes two to three days, it’ll cost you $4.05, or 20 cents more. (I wouldn’t use this unless you’re mailing something across the country. Typically, if the destination isn’t too far away, the mail will arrive there in two to three days anyway.)

Dembicki at 10:14 AM  |  link to this     

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