Best way to move about ten pounds of books/notebooks across country? (movers, cheapest)
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I'm moving across the country and have a lot of books and notebooks from grad school that I would like to keep. The problem with that is how heavy they are. I mainly have clothes, books, shoes, and toiletries. I was thinking of shipping the lightest things (clothes) and putting the heavier things in my luggage... but ten pounds of books seems like a lot. I was going to have my shoes in my luggage but they're definitely lighter than books. I could probably do media shipping through USPS but I'm not sure the best way to do this. Would they believe me if I brought in a heavy box and said "these are all books"? I'm also going on vacation before I return home so lugging 10 pounds of books when I don't need them isn't ideal.
I just went on USPS and put in 10 pounds and selected media mail... it's only $6.93. I think this should work...
Are you not using movers? I had tons of books and notebooks from grad school as well when we moved from the NE to Florida. I put them in Rubbermaid-type storage containers, taped around the whole thing with duct-tape and had the movers move them.
I agree with tnff - you have to weigh them because books can be deceivingly heavy. If you wanted to ship them via media mail, I would wrap them in a garbage bag (just in case the boxes got wet), put them in larger boxes, and tape the heck out of them. You are not trying to deceive the post office - if they wanted to open the packages to check if they are indeed books, they can. Schools get shipments of textbooks all the time, I'm sure those boxes are very big and heavy. Just remember that media mail takes longer than regular mail too. Good Luck!
Yeah we used a combination of Amtrak Express and Media Mail shipping for our move. By far the cheapest options. You just go in and ask for media mail. Just know that they likely will be inspected, ours were.
Media mail is great but as @Notnamed said, be sure you ONLY put in what is allowed. They do random checks. Here is what the post office site says:
Media Mail® service has special eligibility requirements for permissible contents. Media Mail rates are limited to the items listed below:
Books (at least 8 pages).
Sound recordings and video recordings, such as CDs and DVDs.
Playscripts and manuscripts for books, periodicals, and music.
Printed music.
Computer-readable media containing prerecorded information and guides or scripts prepared solely for use with such media.
Sixteen millimeter or narrower width films.
Printed objective test materials and their accessories.
Printed educational reference charts.
Loose-leaf pages and their binders consisting of medical information for distribution to doctors, hospitals, medical schools, and medical students.
Media Mail Packages may not contain advertising except that books may contain incidental announcements of other books and sound recordings may contain incidental announcements of other sound recordings. In accordance
with standards in the Mailing Standards of the United States Postal Service, Domestic Mail Manual (DMM 300) 173.3.2, Media Mail Packages are subject to inspection by the Postal Service™. Upon such inspection, matter not eligible for the Media Mail rate may be assessed at the proper rate and sent to the recipient postage due, or the sender may be contacted for additional postage (DMM 604.8.1). Media Mail Service
Media mail is great but as @Notnamed said, be sure you ONLY put in what is allowed. They do random checks. Here is what the post office site says:
Media Mail® service has special eligibility requirements for permissible contents. Media Mail rates are limited to the items listed below:
Books (at least 8 pages).
Sound recordings and video recordings, such as CDs and DVDs.
Playscripts and manuscripts for books, periodicals, and music.
Printed music.
Computer-readable media containing prerecorded information and guides or scripts prepared solely for use with such media.
Sixteen millimeter or narrower width films.
Printed objective test materials and their accessories.
Printed educational reference charts.
Loose-leaf pages and their binders consisting of medical information for distribution to doctors, hospitals, medical schools, and medical students.
Media Mail Packages may not contain advertising except that books may contain incidental announcements of other books and sound recordings may contain incidental announcements of other sound recordings. In accordance
with standards in the Mailing Standards of the United States Postal Service, Domestic Mail Manual (DMM 300) 173.3.2, Media Mail Packages are subject to inspection by the Postal Serviceâ„¢. Upon such inspection, matter not eligible for the Media Mail rate may be assessed at the proper rate and sent to the recipient postage due, or the sender may be contacted for additional postage (DMM 604.8.1). Media Mail Service
Also, most post offices will have you open the package to make sure that everything is legal Media mail.
It is great for shipping books, but only books.
Flat rate Priority Mail boxes work well for small but very heavy items like tools.
Haha, yeah, 10 lbs ain't a lot of books! One college textbook is usually around 10-15 lbs alone.
I agree with the above, media mail is cheap! You could just pack them all in comfortable to lift (like 40-50 lbs each) boxes and mail them all media. They will take a while to reach your home, but that's part of why it's super cheap.
I suppose another option is take a train home. They're probably less antsy about the weight of your items than a plane or the greyhound would be.
Nah, train is not an option. I already bought plane tickets.
Most of my items are actually composition notebooks and journals. I wanted to keep my notes from school. I'm not sure those count as "books" but they are binded. I do have a few novels and such. I don't have any textbooks. It could be 10-20 pounds but it really isn't that much. But if I were to send it regular mail it would be around 80 bucks.
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