I know many of us struggle with the cost of shipping.  I use Pirate Ship for shipping as I like to have all my shipping costs for different sites that I use all in one place.  I've found that often enough Ground Advantage shipping ends up saving some money.  But it never seems like what PBS charges takes that into account.  They seem to use Media Mail & don't do any comparison.

Pirate Ship sounds intriguing, Jeff. Can you provide examples of where it would less expensive to send a book Ground Advantage? Would it work for 1lb. or 2lb. packages, or is it only for the greater weights? 

I can mail one or two maybe three standard PBs for 1lb. Media Mail which is currently $4.63. Sending a couple trade size PBs might go to 2lbs., which would be $5.38. Then there are HCs, which often weigh more than 1lb. to start. The PBS printing fee makes these higher of course, unless you're using your own postage or one of the free prints included with membership.

The problem is that only media mail gives tracking. I've had to remind enough members to mark a book received to make media mail's tracking worthwhile even if it costs more.

I put tracking on anything I mail out. I use one of the USPS Label 400 stickers; it doesn't add to the cost.

A clerk recently gave me a small batch of those!

They've unfortunately been discontinued. USPS is using another label now (888) but it's only available over the counter or for commercial customers.

Ground Advantage is cheaper for lighter weight items.  The more items the more Media Mail is less expensive.  Ground Advantage has tracking.  Pricing is based on weight plus how far it's traveling.

I've used PirateShip for 5+ years now since my rural post mistress recommended it to me to save on all the mail and now UPS I ship out each year. Easey peasy, only need a small kitchen scale that will weigh your package and PirateShip does a comparison pricing so you can choose which way you want to ship and the money you want to save. 

I've sent many packages and have auto fill to top off my money there so I don't even have to 'think' about that either. I've saved $100s on all types of shipping using it. Last Dec, I shipped family gifts and on average saved 45% on all my packages that went out, including UPS being cheaper than USPS on most of them. Print out the labels and drop at the nearest USPS or UPS drops. I shipped a Priority mail envelope in Jan and saved over $2 with PirateShip. What you can do at USPS counter, you can do on PirateShip as well. only thing needed at home is a kitchen scale and printer for postage.