Are Baseball Cards Media Mail? (& Sending Tips)

A popular question about the baseball card world is whether they are media mail or not. It’s important to know this, especially if you’re about to ship your baseball cards, as the methods vary. In addition, you should know the baseball card weight and how to package baseball cards for mail safely.

Anyways, are baseballs considered media mail? Baseball cards aren’t considered media mail even though they are printed materials. As they aren’t media mail, you shouldn’t send them as such, especially because media mail packages are the most enforced package types in the postal industry. You would likely lose your baseball cards.

There are many ways to send baseball cards in media mail without getting caught, such as sending a book as media mail and baseball card/cards inside the book.

However, I believe this is mail fraud, so that I wouldn’t recommend it. In addition, the chances of getting caught are higher than in normal mail, even if not guaranteed, as media mail packages are often x-rayed and inspected for the noted reason, which is fraud.

So if you can’t send printed material such as baseball cards in media mail, what can you do? What is media mail?

What Is Media Mail?

If you want to send your package to the recipient without any issues with sending mail in media mail that isn’t, you need to know what media mail is and what is included in the category.

Media mail is a cost-effective way to send mail. However, not everything is considered media mail, and only the approved items can be sent. If you send media mail that isn’t part of the approved items, the package will be sent back to you, or they will collect the postal due from the recipient.

That being said, don’t risk sending baseball cards as media mail because you will risk the package’s imminent transportation safely to the receiver.

Here you can see the approved media mail items from the United States Postal Service (USPS);

• Books (at least 8 pages).
• Printed music.
• Printed educational reference charts.
• Sixteen millimeter or narrower width films.
• Printed objective test materials and their accessories.
• Play scripts and manuscripts for books, periodicals, and music.
• Sound recordings and video recordings, such as CDs and DVDs.
• Computer-readable media containing prerecorded information and guides or scripts prepared solely for use with such media.
• Loose-leaf pages and their binders consisting of medical information for distribution to doctors, hospitals, medical schools, and medical students.

In addition, media mail can’t contain any advertising, and comic books aren’t included in the media mail category. Other exceptions may be important to know, so I suggest you read more from the USPS website.

Why Is Media Mail So Cheap?

After all, it might be tempting to send baseball cards via media mail as it’s so cheaper. However, in my opinion, the costs are so low, to begin with when sending a baseball card, so the risk of not delivering the product on time, additional hassle, and committing fraud isn’t worth it.

Still, why is media mail so cheap? Media mail is so cheap when compared to priority mail because in 1938 it was created as a less expensive way to mail books. The Postal Service wanted to encourage the exchange of educational material with lower costs and it’s in use to this day.

Nowadays, however, there are films, DVDs, CDs, and similar products sent via mail. That’s why the name was changed to ”Media Mail” after its original name ”Book Rates”.

Anyways, the original meaning of the Book Rates still stands to this day. However, there are other reasons at play why media mail is so cheap, including;

1. Slower delivery speed
2. Insurance isn’t included
3. Price is based on weight & size instead of zone
4. Free pickup service isn’t provided
5. No delivery confirmation

As you can see, some reasons reduce the labor needs for media mail which is indeed a partial reason why it is cheaper than normal mail in the modern era.

Still, it’s respectable that the postal service provides a cheaper way for people to share and send knowledge. That’s very encouraging!

How Much Do Baseball Cards Weigh?

If you’re about to send your baseball cards to a buyer, you need to know more than whether you can send them through media mail.

Generally, a plain baseball card weighs 1-2grams. A top-loader weighs 5 to 7 grams, so a baseball card with a top loader can weigh between 6 to 9 grams. In most cases, a baseball card weighs 1 gram and a top loader 7grams.

If you have hundreds or even thousands of cards, the final weight can vary a lot depending on the card types, and so on.

I suggest that you learn more about the weight of baseball cards and how much they weigh when you have different amounts of them, on average, that is. I’ll also explain how you can package your baseball card safely so the buyer will receive it undamaged!