I just noticed something. The post office charges 2.13 for a 1 lb media mail package. Why is pbs charging $2.47 for 1 lb, $2.81 for 2 lbs & $3.15 for 3 lbs & then we are charged $0.18 for delivery confirmation plus the $0.43 for the pbs fee. According to the usps site it should be $2.13 for 1 lb, $2.47 for 2 lbs & $2.81 for 3 lbs. Anyone know why this is happening?

Willow

I have always been charged $2.13 for up to 1lb, $2.47 for up to 2lb and I'm not sure I've have any over that. Are you thinking that 1.X is $2.13 instead of up to 1.0lb. The rates are for for up to that weight. If you look at the schedule on USPS site it is labeled "Media Mail Rates Not Over (pounds)" on the chart.

The key words here are "Up To". Up to one pound is $2.13, anything above a pound but less than 2 is $2.47.

I am pasting below the Media Mail rate chart:

Current USPS Media Mail rates: as of 5/14/2007 Up to 1 pound.......................................$2.13 More than 1 pound, less than 2 pounds....... 2.47 More than 2 pounds, less than 3 pounds..... 2.81 More than 3 pounds, less than 4 pounds..... 3.15 More than 4 pounds, less than 5 pounds..... 3.49 More than 5 pounds, less than 6 pounds..... 3.83 More than 6 pounds, less than 7 pounds..... 4.17 More than 7 pounds, less than 8 pounds..... 4.51 More than 8 pounds, less than 9 pounds..... 4.85 More than 9 pounds, less than 10 pounds....5.19

Also, If you add less than 1-pound for postage, it will charge you the 1-pound rate, but if you add 1-pound, it will charge you the 2-pound media rate because PBS automatically adds for packaging material.  Be sure to change the postage amount after weighing your book along with the envelope and lable.  The costs are as follows:

FROM THE HELP CENTER

• The Printable Postage fee is 43 cents.
  • PBS gets 27 cents of this
  • Endicia, our printable postage provider, gets 16 cents.
• The fee to USPS is 18 cents (for the electronic DC). 
  • Delivery Confirmation is required by USPS for all printable postage, so the option to print postage without DC is not available.

I checked it out & I had it as 1 lb & it stated it would be $2.47. I have been shipping books by media mail for around 8 years. I sell on ebay & have for over 8 years now. I know how to calculate postage. I double checked it before I posted here so there wouldn't be any mistakes. I had it as 1 in the first box & 0 in the second box. It said $2.47 for media mail. I always add a little to cover the packing weight to make sure they don't send it back saying not enough postage or try to charge the person recieving it for the extra postage. If it says under a pound I usually make it 1 pound even to make up the extra in packing. I was just wanting to know if anyone else noticed this besides me? I used endicia for awhile until I was emailed the link to use paypal for label printing. I use that now.It saves me $9.99 a month. I use the pbs quick credit to get my books I want faster even if it costs more.

Anyways I just wanted to know if it was just me or anyone else had this happen.

Willow

I just read the previous posting. So it wasn't just me. When you choose 1 lb it does charge the 2 lb rate. I always add for the packing & I don't need pbs to do it for me. I've been adding the extra to cover the weight after one was delivered postage due to a pbs user & I ended up having to return their point because of it. I think i'll stick to paypal if that's how they are doing it. At least I get charged the correct amount even if I have to wait to get the books I want. The way I see it is, until I noticed it i've been getting over charged for shipping on a regular basis & I didn't even notice until I started paying attention more. I's not right to do that without letting people know they do it that way by stating that on the print postage page.

Thanks for clearing that up

Willow

I just think it's been acting wacky for the last few days.  I've had it stuck on a certain amount sometimes, and I've had to log off my account, get back in, and then it will take the correct weight and put the correct postage amount in.

For me, I was mailing a kids' paperback and I could enter a new weight, but the dollar amount was not changing.  When you are mailing 1st class mail, for every ounce change, the postage amount changes.  So it was definitely not calculating right for me either.  I also mail a lot of everything on Ebay and here, so I know the rates pretty well.  I feel sorry for the people who don't and may be under or over paying.

Thomas:  As I said previously in my post, if you want one pound, you must put in LESS than one pound in the box!!!  PBS automatically adds for packing!  It tells you that in the Help Center if  you search "printable postage". 

I also learned by my mistake....I wasn't paying attention and I put in one pound and paid the 2 pound rate and when I wrote to "feedback" they told me exactly what I said to you... in the first sentence.

Retracted.

Yes, PBS automatically adds for packing material. So, if your book weighs 1 pound 5 oz.,  put that weight in the box and you will pay the 2 pound media rate.  If your book weighs almost 2 pounds WITH packing, DO NOT PUT IN 2 pounds or you will be charged the 3 pound rate. Put 1.5lbs in the box to get the 2lb media rate.  Just make sure your scale is correct because if it is just one ounce over  2lbs, you will not have enough postage on your book.

Retracted.

CC:   PBS postage just estimates the weight.  You can certainly change it to suit  your purposes. Suppose you send a free book or two with your order as part of a deal??  You need to change the weight to add the extra books. There is nothing illegal about doing this

 Retracted.

Retracted.

I think it should be made clear on the print postage page that pbs adds for the packing material. Why isn't it stated there instead of buried in the help page? No one checks through the help files before they print their postage unless they are new to shipping things. And not always then even. It's like paypal burying their contact information under pages & pages of links. You have to click through link after link just to get the contact info. Glad I discovered auctionguild.com. They usually have the lastest info & no searching involved. Saves me alot of time.  But to get back to the subject I think it needs to be stated in plain site where it is noticable on the print postage page that pbs adds a little weight for packing material so people are not overpaying for postage when they add their own packing weight to it like i've been doing.

Anyways guess i'll go back to using paypal like I said. At least I know how i'm being charged & for what. Plus it's cheaper than pbs even if it means waiting for the credit.

Willow

Willow-May I suggest getting a scale?  Mine has been a real help in dertermining postage costs.  I am too nervous to trust the estimated weights, and with the scale I can enter in the exact weight of the wrapped book.

Shannon-I am 99.999% certain that the added estimate for packing onlg figures in to the estimated weights.  It shouldn't factor into the cost if you type in the weight yourself.

Willow, I believe that PBS is trying to protect us members by adding a bit of cushioning to the weights so that all kinks of packages arent sent postage due, or even worse, returned with the postage due. If you chose to not read the Help Center to find out about these helpful items, that is certainly your right, but to assume that someone is trying to keep information from you in some way is, in my opinion, way off the mark. This is, afterall a site for readers. As for me, the Help Center is just that, somewhere to go for Help before I make a mistake or an assumption. In the beginning of this thread, I want to assure you, no one was insinuating that you were incapable of calculating postage, so if you are in any way offended by members trying to assist you, then please excuse us.

Cheryl

When I read the help, I don't believe they are saying that they add for packaging above and beyond what you enter, they state that packaging should be included in the "package" weight, which is what you enter on the screen. It doesn't say enter book weight, it says enter package weight.

It really shouldn't be a big issue. I mean how many packages weigh exactly 1lb, 2lb, etc? If you are just winging it and enter a weight that has no correlation to the package, then what difference does it make it the system wings it too? Sorry, but I just cannot see how this could be a big deal. If you see a problem report it and use a weight just under. The prepaid postage system is new and things like that may have been missed beta testing just because it is such are rare occurance to have packages  hit exactly on an even pound.