Am enjoying the comments about Media Mail!  Even though my brother
works for the post office and my father spent his career there, too,
I still wouldn't pay them any more than necessary to deliver the piano
rolls, phonograph records, books, and other media that I mail
regularly.  Media Mail has worked great for me over the years and has
saved a lot of postage.  There has been very little hassle educating
the clerks about music box disks, piano rolls, or cylinder records, but
I did have a bit of trouble convincing them that wooden cylinders with
wire poking out of them were music media that operated a little organ!

Selling on eBay for over 11 years has taught me to provide a fixed
shipping cost up front so bidders know exactly what their total cost
will be if they win the bid.  For media items, I am able to specify
a much lower shipping cost than if I shipped any other way.  I believe
buyers like to see a low fixed shipping cost and it allows them to bid
a little higher.  I have never had anyone complain that I sent their
item via Media Mail and have had no damage reported.  I see no reason
to pay the much higher cost of parcel post service, and definitely
_not_ Priority Mail unless a customer specifically requests and pays
for it.

Buying on eBay, it irks me when a seller states that the book, or
whatever, will be shipped Priority Mail, when I am in no big hurry
to get it and would rather spend less for it.  In fact, I do bid less
on these items so the total cost including what the seller is going
to pay for Priority Mail doesn't exceed my limit.  The seller loses
by spending his potential profit on fast shipping that I don't even
require.  It seems a lot of sellers don't think of the Media Mail
option when they list their eBay items.

Media Mail is a bargain, especially for heavier items such as books,
and I encourage all sellers to offer it.

Greg Farmer