Can you send board games, puzzles or video games by Media Mail?
USPS's rules: No
No. USPS's ruling on computer media says games, including board games and games in an electronic format, are used primarily for entertainment and don't serve the purpose of Media Mail, and it rules video games ineligible in any form, disc or system. Jigsaw puzzles and card games aren't on Media Mail's closed list of qualifying items either, so all of them ship by Ground Advantage: $8.39 to $13.42 online for a 2 lb box. A rulebook or strategy guide sold on its own is a different item: a book of at least eight pages with no ads qualifies.
Rates verified on
The rule, in USPS's words
Quoted from the official pages linked below each quote, checked Oct 19, 2026.
“games, including board games and games in an electronic format, are used primarily for entertainment and they do not serve the same purpose as books, films, or other qualifying Media Mail.”
“video games, whether on CD-ROM, diskettes, or similar software, regardless of form, or playable systems including computers, do not meet the standards for Media Mail.”
“Video games, computer drives, and digital drives do not qualify for Media Mail prices.”
“Only these items may be mailed at the Media Mail prices:”
“the purpose of this favored subclass is to promote 'educational, cultural, scientific, and informational values'”
What it costs to ship
Media Mail costs the same to every US address, with a 1 lb minimum ($4.39) and any fraction of a pound rounded up. Ground Advantage, USPS's ground package service with tracking included, is priced by weight and zone: online is USPS's commercial price for labels bought online, and the counter price is retail.
| Package | Media Mail (if it qualified) | Ground Advantage online, Zones 1-9 | Ground Advantage at the counter, Zones 1-9 |
|---|---|---|---|
| One video game, 8 oz | $4.39 | $7.33 to $8.95 | $8.40 to $10.20 |
| 1 lb | $4.39 | $8.01 to $11.22 | $10.05 to $13.65 |
| 2 lb | $5.13 | $8.39 to $13.42 | $11.30 to $19.80 |
| Boxed board game, 3 lb | $5.86 | $9.04 to $16.30 | $11.80 to $23.15 |
| 5 lb | $7.34 | $10.35 to $20.24 | $13.75 to $27.45 |
Worked examples
- A boxed board game, 3 lb: Ground Advantage, $9.04 to $16.30 online or $11.80 to $23.15 at the counter. Media Mail would have been $5.86.
- One video game in a padded mailer, 8 oz: $7.33 to $8.95 online.
- A 1,000-piece jigsaw puzzle, 2 lb: $8.39 to $13.42 online.
- Sent as Media Mail anyway and opened: a 3 lb board game is short $3.18 to $10.44 against Ground Advantage online, which USPS can take from your label account or collect from your buyer (inspection).
Every weight from 1 to 70 lb: Media Mail rates · Ground Advantage rates
Edge cases
- A game sold as educational: the ruling names board games and electronic games without an exception.
- A game packed with books makes it a mixed box, and the whole package pays the higher price.
- Consoles and computers are out too: the ruling names playable systems including computers.
- A game's soundtrack on CD or vinyl is a sound recording, and a movie on DVD or Blu-ray is a video recording, so both qualify (DMM 173.4.1e); the game disc itself doesn't.
- A game manual or strategy guide sold on its own has to meet the book standard, eight or more printed pages and no ads except announcements of books, so one that advertises other games doesn't qualify (DMM 173.4.1a).
What to do
- Buy a Ground Advantage label online; it's $8.01 to $11.22 for 1 lb against $10.05 to $13.65 at the counter.
- Shipping games often? Prices and platform labels are in how to ship video games.
Sources
Rates verified on from each official page below.
- USPS Customer Support Ruling PS-334: Computer-Readable Media Eligibility for Media Mail Prices (updated July 2018)
- USPS: Mail and shipping services (Media Mail eligibility, Ground Advantage, First-Class Mail)
- USPS Domestic Mail Manual 173: Media Mail and Library Mail prices and eligibility
- USPS Notice 123: price list (effective Oct 4, 2026), Media Mail and Ground Advantage prices
- USPS: temporary price change for 2026 holiday shipping (Aug 25, 2026)
Free 1-page Reseller Cheat Sheet: fees on 8 platforms, Media Mail and stamp prices
What each platform takes from a $10, $25 and $50 sale, Media Mail 1-10 lb, Ground Advantage to Zones 1, 5 and 8, and the Forever stamp, on one printable page. The link appears as soon as you sign up.