I had two books that I needed to send out.  One,  I believe, would be cheaper to send first class.  But, I couldn't get it to print first class.  It kept printing as media mail even though I selected the first class option.  I tried it three times.  What do you think I did wrong?  It was a mass market paperback weighing about 6.7 ounces. 

If I get the nice postal worker, he tells me which way to go and will cross out media mail if first class is cheaper. 

Any thoughts on what's up?

Susan

I noticed that the Paperbackswap wrapper says media mail or first class depending on the weight of the book. I read that media mail is cheaper if the book weighs 7 ounces or more. 6.7 ounces is closer to 7 ounces, so I'm guessing that the website thinks that media mail would be cheaper for that particular book. If you're planning to get the package weighed at the post office, and you really want the printed wrapper to say "first class", maybe you could type in a lower weight for the book (do this on the website page where you choose which style of wrapper to print). There is a box where you can type in the weight of the book. Just type in a lower weight, like 6.1 ounces or something, and the wrapper will automatically say "first class" on it when it gets printed. I'm not sure if it's okay to do that (to type in an inaccurate weight for the book), but to my understanding, it is just used as a guideline for calculating the right postage for someone who just wants to put stamps on the package and mail it from their home.

Maybe because it is 6.7 ounces the system knows that by the time you add the wrapper and tape, it will be over the 7 ounces, KWIM??

First class mail is priced by the ounce, and rounded up.  Therefore, your 6.7 ounce book would be classified as 7 ounces, and that's the point at which it's cheaper to send Media Mail.

Many members though find that the price difference isn't significant enough to worry about, and will send an 8 ounces book via FCM because it travels faster (and comes back for free if the address is incorrect)