General advice on shipping clothing etc.

Hi there,

One of the remaining things I'll have to ship is simply clothing, and I need it to arrive within two weeks. Should I use what someone else on the forum described as an "M Bag" at the post office? I'm thinking that regardless, I should just mail my remaining items from the post office, unless someone has a better (read: cheaper) idea. Do they provide boxes of a large enough size at the post office?

Thanks in advance for your assistance

The Sun King

From USPS.gov:

Printed matter is admissible in M-bags. Printed matter is defined as paper on which words, letters, characters, figures, images, or any combination thereof, not having the character of a bill or statement of account, or of actual or personal correspondence, have been reproduced by any process other than handwriting or typewriting. Articles that meet the printed matter definition include newspapers, magazines, journals, books, sheet music, catalogues, directories, commercial advertising, and promotional matter.

Articles of merchandise may be enclosed in M-bags, provided that all of the following conditions of mailing are met:

a. The merchandise items being sent are limited to disks, tapes, and cassettes; commercial samples shipped by manufacturers and distributors; or other non-dutiable commercial articles or informational materials that are not subject to resale.

b. The merchandise items relate to the printed matter (see 261.21) with which they are being mailed.

c. The merchandise items are affixed to or are otherwise combined with the accompanying printed matter.

d. The weight of each mailpiece or package, which contains merchandise in combination with printed matter, may not exceed 4 pounds.

e. The M-bag must be accompanied by a fully completed PS Form 2976, Customs - CN 22 (Old C1) and Sender's Declaration, which is to be affixed to PS Tag 158, M-bag Addressee Tag.

I sent over about 10 boxes of clothes, linens, etc.  The boxes were pretty big...maybe 2'x2'x2'?  All told, the cost came to about $600 and I think I sent them surface mail.........got the boxes at Walmart...definitely cheaper than office stores!