--- title: "Textbooks, workbooks and test booklets by Media Mail" description: "Yes. Textbooks are books, USPS accepts workbooks and fill-in textbooks, and printed tests qualify with their answer sheets. The rulings and prices, quoted." canonical: https://resellerindex.com/usps/media-mail/textbooks-and-workbooks/ last_updated: 2026-10-19 publisher: "The Reseller Index" --- # Can textbooks, workbooks and test booklets go by Media Mail? USPS's rules: Yes **Yes. A textbook is a book under USPS's standard, USPS has ruled that workbooks and fill-in self-help textbooks qualify, and printed objective test materials used by or on behalf of educational institutions are a Media Mail item of their own: $5.13 for a 2 lb textbook.** Answer sheets, scoring keys, test directions and even pencils count as test accessories, but they qualify only when they ship with the test they belong to. A CD or DVD bundled with a textbook qualifies on its own as a recording or computer-readable media. 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. > “Current administrative policy provides for the mailing of fill-in type self-help textbooks at Media Mail prices.” [USPS Customer Support Ruling PS-064](https://pe.usps.com/text/csr/PS-064.htm) · USPS Customer Support Ruling PS-064: Media Mail, Books (updated January 2017) > “workbooks, books containing sheets which are blank on one side, loose-leaf bound books” [USPS Customer Support Ruling PS-064](https://pe.usps.com/text/csr/PS-064.htm) · USPS Customer Support Ruling PS-064: Media Mail, Books (updated January 2017) > “Printed objective test materials and their accessories used by or on behalf of educational institutions to test ability, aptitude, achievement, interests, and other mental and personal qualities” [Domestic Mail Manual 173.4.1d](https://pe.usps.com/text/dmm300/173.htm#a_4_1) · USPS Domestic Mail Manual 173: Media Mail and Library Mail prices and eligibility > “These items are acceptable at the Media Mail prices only when mailed with the actual printed objective test materials to which they relate.” [USPS Customer Support Ruling PS-017](https://pe.usps.com/text/csr/PS-017.htm) · USPS Customer Support Ruling PS-017: Objective Test Materials, Media Mail (updated June 2014) ## 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). Selling platforms and label services can have their own rates.* | Package | Media Mail | Ground Advantage online, Zones 1-9 | Ground Advantage at the counter, Zones 1-9 | | --- | ---: | ---: | ---: | | 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 | | 5 lb | $7.34 | $10.35 to $20.24 | $13.75 to $27.45 | ### Worked examples - A 4 lb hardcover textbook: Media Mail, $6.60, against $9.93 to $19.06 online by Ground Advantage. - A used workbook, 1 lb: $4.39. - A 5 lb box of a school's printed objective tests with their answer sheets: $7.34. 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 - Access-code cards: USPS has no ruling on them. On our reading, a printed card packed loose with the book rides at Media Mail prices under DMM 173.6.1, because it's printed matter mailable as USPS Marketing Mail: it isn't a bill, information specific to the addressee, handwritten or typewritten, or marked "Postcard", the matter that must go First-Class Mail ([DMM 233.2.2 to 2.5](https://pe.usps.com/text/dmm300/233.htm#a_2_2)). See [packing slips and flyers](https://resellerindex.com/usps/media-mail/packing-slips-and-flyers/). - A code card sold on its own isn't a book of eight or more pages, so it goes First-Class Mail or Ground Advantage. - Answer keys mailed without the test aren't Media Mail ([PS-017](https://pe.usps.com/text/csr/PS-017.htm)). - A textbook with the publisher's ads for its other books is fine; ads for anything else aren't ([books with ads](https://resellerindex.com/usps/media-mail/books-with-advertising/)). ## What to do - Ship textbooks and workbooks by Media Mail and round the packed weight up to the next pound. - Mail test accessories in the same package as the tests. ## Related questions - [Can coloring, puzzle and activity books go by Media Mail?](https://resellerindex.com/usps/media-mail/activity-and-coloring-books/) Mostly no. Crossword, pattern, poster, iron-on transfer and cut-out books don't qualify; workbooks do. USPS hasn't named coloring books. - [Can a book with ads in it go by Media Mail?](https://resellerindex.com/usps/media-mail/books-with-advertising/) Only ads for books. Incidental announcements of books are the only ads allowed. Ads for anything else, including the publisher's own non-book products, disqualify it. - [Can software, blank CDs or flash drives go by Media Mail?](https://resellerindex.com/usps/media-mail/computer-media/) Prerecorded media only. Prerecorded computer media and their manuals qualify; blank CDs and DVDs, flash drives, hard drives and video games don't. - [Can binders, loose-leaf pages or printouts go by Media Mail?](https://resellerindex.com/usps/media-mail/binders-and-loose-leaf/) Only if they form a book. Loose-leaf pages qualify, with or without their binder, when together they make a book. An empty binder, update pages or replacement pages don't. [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 Customer Support Ruling PS-064: Media Mail, Books (updated January 2017)](https://pe.usps.com/text/csr/PS-064.htm) - [USPS Domestic Mail Manual 173: Media Mail and Library Mail prices and eligibility](https://pe.usps.com/text/dmm300/173.htm) - [USPS Customer Support Ruling PS-017: Objective Test Materials, Media Mail (updated June 2014)](https://pe.usps.com/text/csr/PS-017.htm) - [USPS Domestic Mail Manual 233: First-Class Mail prices and eligibility (matter that must go First-Class Mail)](https://pe.usps.com/text/dmm300/233.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.