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I recently ordered from a seller and paid (extra) for Priority Mail.
They marked the invoice as "Shipped" last monday and by Saturday I still hadn't received anything.
I PM'ed the seller asking what the deal is - Priority Mail is 3 days coast to coast, why hasn't my Vermont to Colorado package arrived yet?
His response was that he "accidentally" shipped by Media Mail (and will refund the difference, but hasn't yet).

But it's been a week!
Even regular mail doesn't take a full 7 days for coast to coast, so why hasn't my Vermont to Colorado package arrived yet?
Is Media Mail even slower than regular mail?

How long should Media Mail take to get from Vermont to Colorado?

Media Mail can be MUCH slower than regular mail. I've had several orders from California take 5 to 6 weeks to get to me in Maryland. For those that had delivery confirmation, it looked like the sat in a CA Post Office for 3 to 4 week. I don't know this for sure, becuase not every P.O. scans Media Mail packages along the way. On the selling side, I had a package I shipped from MD to North carolina take 3 weeks to get delivered. The sad part about that one was that based on the tracking info, it arrived in North Carolina within 3 days.

hhmmmmm..... that's not exactly encouraging, especially coupled with the recent posts on here about Media Mail being used for comics and USPS severly frowning upon the practice.
I had a less than perfect experience with the seller the first time, but decided to give him a second chance.
I'm regretting it now.

Media Mail times can vary a lot. Sometimes the packages show up in a few days, other times it does take weeks. Other than the time it takes (which can vary a lot), I haven't had any problems sending or receiving Media Mail packages, as long as they had delivery confirmation. I have had a couple of orders that were shipped to me Media Mail that never arrived, but in each case the seller didn't include delivery confirmation.

The variablity in transit time and the recent experiences I've read about here are part of the reason I've pretty much stopped using Media Mail as a shipping option.

I've also quit using Media Mail. My post office won't allow it and they do open and inspect. Plus media isn't handled very carefully. In truth they just don't care about it.

Ask your seller for the delivery confirmation number so you can try to track the package. If he doesn't have one you can file a claim with Paypal and you'll win because he won't have any proof it was shipped or received.

The post office doesn't give receipts or anything when the seller gives it to them to ship?

I usually wait 2 weeks before I start asking the seller where my package is.
I've had a package lost only once in 6 years, so I trust them more or less.
Once, with tracking, a package came to California and was shipped to Michigan before it was shipped back to California. That one took about 3 weeks.
I have found that it is a very good practice to let my post office know that I am waiting for a package. sometimes it is sitting back there, and for some reason they haven't sent me the notice. But I find that my post office has been extremely helpful. Even to the point of communicating with other post offices.

Receipts are pretty much meaningless to Paypal in terms of package tracking/confirmation.

You can ask for a receipt if you're paying for the postage at the post office, but I don't think it has the recepient's address, unless you're sending registered mail. They don't usually give you a receipt if you're dropping off a package with prepaid postage.

for me media mail seemed to take around 8-10 business days on average. so basically two weeks.

Huh, I didn't know that. It may come in handy if I ever have a problem. It seems to me, however, that it is something that could be abused. Someone could easily receive a package and then turn around and say they didn't. If the seller didn't use delivery confirmation then they would be out of luck.

The big thing that stuck out to me was that you said Colorado. I just moved to Arizona from Colorado and man, I was waiting forever for packages coming to Colorado. When they hit the Denver PO, it usually takes 2-3 days before they leave to the next destination. I don't know what it is about Denver but they are slow as hell. Media mail in general does take a while to get to you. The last few media mail orders I've placed have taken around 10-15 days to get to me. I'm waiting on an order right now that was shipped on 6/3 so its been 12 days.

Based on these posts, I'm inferring that the rate for Media Mail is much lower and I should therefore expect a relatively large refund on the difference I paid for the Priority Mail?
Does Media Mail shipping have the price paid printed on it?

I have never really looked at how long it takes Media Mail packages to arrive, but it seems to be about a week before I get feedback. Maybe my post office system around here is quicker, I don't know. I'm curious to see how long it takes this package to get to Hawaii that I just sent.

The only problem I've had with Media Mail is a package that the USPS said the buyer wasn't available to receive (I have a feeling they never tried). About 4 weeks after I sent it I got it back, and then I switched the stuff over to a new box and sent it back out.

I was actually interested to see what shape my boxes arrive in, and I was pleasantly surprised that although the box looked like a bunch of monkeys played kickball with it, the package inside was undamaged. The newspaper I use for packaging was working great, and the way I bundle the comics worked well, too.


If they used Paypal's shipping option and printed the labels from there, it ALWAYS has tracking info, and it only costs an extra $.18 so it's not a biggie.


Depending on how it was shipped (label printed at home or at the post office) it may not have the price on it. It's really whatever the seller wants to do if they print it at home. At the post office I don't think you have an option. Yes, Media Mail is MUCH lower, I've mailed 60 lbs insured for $25, and that would have been like over $200 priority or something. Also, the rate is the same no matter where you send it.

My media mail packages general come out to around $5-$7 for a box of 50 books. Thats about 12 lbs.

If the package doesn't have the shipping cost on it, it's pretty easy to figure it out. Just weigh the package (preferably before you open it), then go to the USPS web site and use their shipping calculator.

This particular order was 17 comics, no trades action figs, etc, just regular old 90s comics.
I have now asked the seller for a tracking #. I'm not sure how long to wait before I ask him for a delivery confirmation # - I guess I'll wait until next Tuesday...
Certainly not 25 lbs of stuff or even 12 lbs of 50 comics. Based on Jim's post 17 books should be about 5 lbs or less.


This is where the regional USPS distribution hub is - that's Montana, Wyoming, Idaho, Colorado, Nebraska, New Mexico, and I'm probably forgetting a Dakota or two...

USPS advertises Media Mail as 4-10 days, but it's usually closer to the latter (if not over).

That many comics should only cost a little over $4 to ship Media Mail. I'd ask the seller to refund the difference between what you paid and $4.

Yep about $4 to send that many is correct.

Media Mail sometimes takes long time. When shipping from Oregon to Washington sometimes as quick as two days, but when going from West coast to East coast have had it take four or five weeks.

I agree with EE, your 17 books should weigh in around 3 to 4 lbs, maybe a little more if bagged and boarded and depending on the box they were shipped in. Should definately not have cost the seller more then $5.