Can you send magazines by Media Mail?
USPS's rules: Not on USPS's list
No. USPS's Media Mail list names books, recordings and seven other kinds of media but not magazines or other periodicals, and a magazine with ads fails the book standard, which allows no advertising except incidental announcements of books. A single magazine that bends and is no more than 3/4 in. thick can go as a First-Class Mail large envelope ($3.72 at 8 oz); a stack goes by Ground Advantage ($8.39 to $13.42 online for 2 lb). Periodicals appear only on the Library Mail list, which is limited to libraries, schools, museums and similar nonprofits.
Rates verified on
The rule, in USPS's words
Quoted from the official pages linked below each quote, checked Oct 19, 2026.
“Only these items may be mailed at the Media Mail prices:”
“Advertising includes paid advertising and the publishers' own advertising in display, classified, or editorial style.”
“Periodicals, whether bound or unbound.”
“Not more than 15 inches long, or more than 12 inches high, or more than 3/4 inch thick.”
“that is neither mailed or required to be mailed as First-Class Mail nor entered as Periodicals, may be mailed as Media Mail or Library Mail, respectively.”
“Only a publisher or registered news agent with authorized Periodicals mailing privileges may mail at the Periodicals prices”
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) | First-Class large envelope | Ground Advantage online, Zones 1-9 | Ground Advantage at the counter, Zones 1-9 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| One magazine, 8 oz | $4.39 | $3.72 | $7.33 to $8.95 | $8.40 to $10.20 |
| 1 lb | $4.39 | over 13 oz | $8.01 to $11.22 | $10.05 to $13.65 |
| 2 lb | $5.13 | over 13 oz | $8.39 to $13.42 | $11.30 to $19.80 |
| 5 lb | $7.34 | over 13 oz | $10.35 to $20.24 | $13.75 to $27.45 |
Worked examples
- One 8 oz magazine in a flexible envelope: First-Class Mail large envelope, $3.72. Rigid, or thicker than 3/4 in., it pays parcel prices: $7.33 to $8.95 online by Ground Advantage.
- A 2 lb run of back issues: Ground Advantage, $8.39 to $13.42 online or $11.30 to $19.80 at the counter. Media Mail would have been $5.13.
- A 5 lb box: $10.35 to $20.24 online.
Every weight from 1 to 70 lb: Media Mail rates · Ground Advantage rates
Edge cases
- A magazine packed loose with qualifying books is unsettled. DMM 173.6.1 lets printed matter that is mailable as USPS Marketing Mail ride along at Media Mail prices, but Marketing Mail excludes matter authorized to be mailed as Periodicals (DMM 243.2.1), and USPS has no ruling on resold back issues. Treat it as a mixed box.
- An ad-free magazine is still a periodical on our reading: the DMM lists books and periodicals as separate items on the Library Mail list (DMM 173.5.2), and the Media Mail list names books but not periodicals, only manuscripts for them (DMM 173.4.1f). A bound volume of an ad-free journal is the gray area: USPS hasn't said whether it counts as a book.
- Library Mail does carry periodicals, but only between eligible institutions, between one and an individual with no financial interest in the sale, or from a publisher to an institution that ordered them (Library Mail).
- Periodicals prices aren't an option for a reseller either: only a publisher or registered news agent with Periodicals mailing privileges may use them (DMM 207.1.1.1).
What to do
- Single issues: a First-Class Mail large envelope if the piece bends and fits within 15 x 12 x 3/4 in. It has no tracking.
- Lots: a Ground Advantage label bought online, which includes tracking and up to $100 of insurance (USPS).
Sources
Rates verified on from each official page below.
- USPS Domestic Mail Manual 173: Media Mail and Library Mail prices and eligibility
- USPS Domestic Mail Manual 101: physical standards (size and weight limits, large envelopes)
- USPS Domestic Mail Manual 207: Periodicals prices and eligibility
- USPS Domestic Mail Manual 243: USPS Marketing Mail content standards
- USPS: Mail and shipping services (Media Mail eligibility, Ground Advantage, First-Class Mail)
- 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.