Question on mailing DVDs

A

Angelshare1

Well-known member
Let's say I want to mail 200 DVD's out to my cast and crew. How do you do this without going to the post office and having the clerk individually put postage on each one? Can you just figure out the postage and buy $1.78 stamps or whatever the weight is? I wish I had a postage machine but I'm not sending out quite enough to make that a cost justified option.

I searched the USPS website high and low and didn't find an answer. I'd like to go there, buy 200 $1.78 stamps, go home, stick them on the bubble envelopes and then bring a big box back. Is that possible?

(Post office is closed today and I'm eager to get an answer!)
 
Yes that's possible. Send them by Media Mail. Take one in, have the postal clerk mail it and figure out what the weight and postage is, then buy 200 stamps in that quantity, go home, stamp 'em all, and bring 'em back in a box.
 
Go to Uline.com and order some padded mailers. I did event videos for years and mailed them out exactly as you are describing.

https://www.usps.com/ship/media-mail.htm

The current Media Mail rate is $2.41 up to a pound, which should get you in at least a couple of finished DVDs. But check first class though too and see what the difference is, because Media Mail does not cover return shipping if the address is wrong or someone has moved. They will send it back to you but it costs you another $2.41 to get it back. And if you're only sending one DVD, First Class Mail could actually be cheaper. You could go to the counter or to a kiosk and buy the specified stamp 5 at a time, but what we usually did is found a combination of 2 stamps that gave us the exact rate we needed, made it very easy. And make sure you write "Media Mail" on Media Mail Packages, or print out a label with it on there.
 
If you're sending out 200, then you don't want to overpay. At $2.41 apiece, that adds up to $482. I agree with Barry. Take one to the Post Office and have them weigh it. See how much the postage is. Then buy stamps to put on the rest. Bet you end up paying a good deal less than $482.
 
One thing about Media Mail -- it's for 'educational materials' only. And the Post Office has the right to open your package and examine the contents to confirm that you're sending 'educational materials'. Looking at the content standards for Media Mail, I don't think a video DVD qualifies.
 
Plotless said:
According to their regulations, video recordings are considered sound recordings and are allowed. It doesn't say anything about educational. I know on the main website under media mail it does say educational.
http://pe.usps.com/text/dmm300/473.htm#1109704
Click to expand...

https://www.usps.com/ship/media-mail.htm

Media Mail shipping is a cost-effective way to send educational materials in 2 to 8 days. This service has restrictions on the type of media that can be sent. This includes a restriction on sending video games and digital drives.

RULES & RESTRICTIONS

The material sent must be educational media. It can’t contain advertising, video games, computer drives, or digital drives of any kind.

Media Mail can be examined by postal staff to determine if the right price has been paid. If the package is wrapped in a way that makes it impossible to examine, it will be charged the First-Class rate.

Maximum weight is 70 lbs.

Maximum combined length and girth of 108". Meaning it can’t be larger than the combined measurement of the longest side and the distance around the thickest part.
 
Plotless said:
According to their regulations, video recordings are considered sound recordings and are allowed. It doesn't say anything about educational. I know on the main website under media mail it does say educational.
http://pe.usps.com/text/dmm300/473.htm#1109704
Click to expand...

I don't know. A video recording could mean an original recording -- as in, a video tape from a camcorder -- rather than a DVD copy of an edited finished product. Best bet is to contact the Postal Service directly and ask.
 
I just use paypal and uline. Costs 1.92 to send a typical DVD to someone...and they pay for the shipping anyways so it's fine. Uline bubble mailers are cheap.
 
Well, after all that the answer is buy stamps. My one mailer cost 1.88 to send first class so guess what, they said I should buy 100 $1 stamps and 200 44 cent stamps. I should put them on the envelope and then bring a big box of them in and set it on the counter.

I felt pretty big, the guy counted the stamps out in a manner similar to a change person at a casino. Pretty fancy!

I did mention the media mail, but they said first class would be cheaper then that. I did mention it was a commercial product and they didn't jump on me saying that's not allowed. (FWIW).

I then had salad for lunch and purchased some address labels and went back to work.
 
Those bubble mailers are kinda bulky...I've always wondered about the Netflix mailers. They are very minimal in material used, the durability seems to be adequate and they have been time tested. Yet, you never see any retail mailers that follow their lead. What's up with that?
 
Al MacLeod said:
Those bubble mailers are kinda bulky...I've always wondered about the Netflix mailers. They are very minimal in material used, the durability seems to be adequate and they have been time tested. Yet, you never see any retail mailers that follow their lead. What's up with that?
Click to expand...
I dropped Netflix when they raised their prices this summer but when I had them, I'd say at least 20% of the DVDs I got where scratched or damaged. I don't know if it was from the mailers or not but I thinks those mailers would cause too many returns for the likes of most non subscription businesses.
 
It wasn't from the mailers it was from how most people treat discs. Kids, grandmas, and just adults in general treat them terrible, and then scream at them when they don't play. It wasn't the mailers...because the kind of scratches you're talking about are not the kind that can come from a sleeve, but from being used as coffee coasters, set in stacks, rubbed against stuff, etc. etc.
 
Plotless said:
I dropped Netflix when they raised their prices this summer but when I had them, I'd say at least 20% of the DVDs I got where scratched or damaged. I don't know if it was from the mailers or not but I thinks those mailers would cause too many returns for the likes of most non subscription businesses.
Click to expand...

That's odd. I've been getting discs from Netflix for a long time, and almost never have an unplayable one. I do thoroughly clean them before I try to play them.
 
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