--- title: "Can magazines go by Media Mail? What USPS allows" description: "No: USPS's Media Mail list names books, not magazines, and an issue with ads fails the book standard. Ship magazines First-Class Mail or Ground Advantage." canonical: https://resellerindex.com/usps/media-mail/magazines/ last_updated: 2026-10-19 publisher: "The Reseller Index" --- # 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 Oct 19, 2026 ## 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:” [Domestic Mail Manual 173.4.1](https://pe.usps.com/text/dmm300/173.htm#a_4_1) · USPS Domestic Mail Manual 173: Media Mail and Library Mail prices and eligibility > “Advertising includes paid advertising and the publishers' own advertising in display, classified, or editorial style.” [Domestic Mail Manual 173.4.1a](https://pe.usps.com/text/dmm300/173.htm#a_4_1) · USPS Domestic Mail Manual 173: Media Mail and Library Mail prices and eligibility > “Periodicals, whether bound or unbound.” [Domestic Mail Manual 173.5.2d](https://pe.usps.com/text/dmm300/173.htm#a_5_2) · USPS Domestic Mail Manual 173: Media Mail and Library Mail prices and eligibility > “Not more than 15 inches long, or more than 12 inches high, or more than 3/4 inch thick.” [Domestic Mail Manual 101.2.1](https://pe.usps.com/text/dmm300/101.htm#a_2_1) · USPS Domestic Mail Manual 101: physical standards (size and weight limits, large envelopes) > “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.” [Domestic Mail Manual 173.3.0](https://pe.usps.com/text/dmm300/173.htm#a_3_0) · USPS Domestic Mail Manual 173: Media Mail and Library Mail prices and eligibility > “Only a publisher or registered news agent with authorized Periodicals mailing privileges may mail at the Periodicals prices” [Domestic Mail Manual 207.1.1.1](https://pe.usps.com/text/dmm300/207.htm#a_1_1_1) · USPS Domestic Mail Manual 207: Periodicals prices and eligibility ## 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. *USD, weight not over. USPS Notice 123 effective Oct 4, 2026; Ground Advantage includes USPS's temporary holiday prices, in effect until 12 a.m. CT Jan 17, 2027 (Media Mail isn't affected). First-Class Mail large envelope: same Notice 123, for flexible pieces up to 15 x 12 x 3/4 in. and 13 oz, with no tracking. Selling platforms and label services can have their own rates.* | 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](https://resellerindex.com/rates/media-mail/) · [Ground Advantage rates](https://resellerindex.com/rates/ground-advantage/) ## 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](https://pe.usps.com/text/dmm300/243.htm#a_2_1)), and USPS has no ruling on resold back issues. Treat it as a [mixed box](https://resellerindex.com/usps/media-mail/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](https://pe.usps.com/text/dmm300/173.htm#a_5_2)), and the Media Mail list names books but not periodicals, only manuscripts for them ([DMM 173.4.1f](https://pe.usps.com/text/dmm300/173.htm#a_4_1)). 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](https://resellerindex.com/usps/media-mail/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](https://pe.usps.com/text/dmm300/207.htm#a_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](https://www.usps.com/ship/mail-shipping-services.htm)). ## Related questions - [Can you ship comic books by Media Mail?](https://resellerindex.com/usps/media-mail/comic-books/) Only with no ads. A comic needs no ads except announcements of books; an issue with other ads pays First-Class Mail or Ground Advantage prices. - [Can you ship catalogs by Media Mail?](https://resellerindex.com/usps/media-mail/catalogs/) Only certain kinds. USPS accepts reprints of historic catalogs, catalogs with editorial matter and unpaid supplier listings, and film catalogs of 24+ pages. Sales catalogs don't qualify. - [What is Library Mail, and can a reseller use it instead of Media Mail?](https://resellerindex.com/usps/media-mail/library-mail/) Only with an institution. Cheaper than Media Mail, but a library, school, museum or qualifying nonprofit must be the sender or addressee, and books need a qualifying pair. - [What if I ship a book and a non-media item together by Media Mail?](https://resellerindex.com/usps/media-mail/mixed-box/) Whole box pays more. Unless the extra item is a permitted enclosure, the whole package pays the higher price, and USPS can fine concealed higher-priced mail. [All 25 Media Mail questions](https://resellerindex.com/usps/media-mail/) · [Cheapest way to ship books](https://resellerindex.com/guides/cheapest-way-to-ship-books/) ## Sources Rates verified on Oct 19, 2026 from each official page below. - [USPS Domestic Mail Manual 173: Media Mail and Library Mail prices and eligibility](https://pe.usps.com/text/dmm300/173.htm) - [USPS Domestic Mail Manual 101: physical standards (size and weight limits, large envelopes)](https://pe.usps.com/text/dmm300/101.htm) - [USPS Domestic Mail Manual 207: Periodicals prices and eligibility](https://pe.usps.com/text/dmm300/207.htm) - [USPS Domestic Mail Manual 243: USPS Marketing Mail content standards](https://pe.usps.com/text/dmm300/243.htm) - [USPS: Mail and shipping services (Media Mail eligibility, Ground Advantage, First-Class Mail)](https://www.usps.com/ship/mail-shipping-services.htm) - [USPS Notice 123: price list (effective Oct 4, 2026), Media Mail and Ground Advantage prices](https://pe.usps.com/text/dmm300/Notice123.htm) - [USPS: temporary price change for 2026 holiday shipping (Aug 25, 2026)](https://about.usps.com/newsroom/national-releases/2026/0825-usps-announces-temporary-price-change-for-2026-holiday-shipping-season.htm) Subscribe: https://resellerindex.com/subscribe/ --- The Reseller Index Researched and drafted with AI assistance from each platform's and carrier's own published pages. A full-time reseller runs The Reseller Index and will edit every newsletter issue once the newsletter starts. Every number links to its source and carries the date we checked it. Spot an error? [Tell us](https://resellerindex.com/corrections/) and we'll fix it in the public corrections log. General information, not tax, legal or financial advice. Not affiliated with or endorsed by eBay, Amazon, Mercari, Poshmark, Depop, Whatnot, Etsy, TikTok Shop, USPS, the IRS or the software companies whose prices we track; their names belong to them. Each page shows the date its own rates were last checked. Sponsored placements are always labeled "Sponsored". © 2026 The Reseller Index. No trackers, no ad cookies.