Shipping Books with an M Bag

Thnaks, Jennifer. I think I'll go talk to the Post Office tomorrow. After my experiences at the bank depositing the check in £s, it may take me awhile to explain the M-bags to my locals! 

hee hee good luck to you! The PO ties the sack at the top pretty securely just make sure the books are secure inside a box or tied up nicely like slices said. contents/box can get pretty tattered in transit sometimes, fyi. I plan to ship at least one m-bag... I will most likely put the books in plastic (good old shopping bag or trash bag) and then in a box and perhaps even another bag around the box for good measure .

So our small town post here in Freeport, Maine thought that I was trying to committ some kind of bixarre crime, simply because I asked if I could take an M- bag home with me to make sure I was using appropriately sized boxes to go inside such bag. I was given the lecture about the bags being government property and I was also given grief about how I planned to return these bags to them once overseas. It was quite ridiculous, but I did leave successfully with an M-bag.

I'm hoping to have my books boxed and bagged and shipped off this weekend. I'm sure it will be quite the ordeal for our little post office.

We shipped three boxes in one M-bag and they arrived in fine shape.  We packed them very well though.  the M-bag also served as a handy laundry bag until we had a washer and dryer! 

I just picked up some M-bags from the p.o. Mine don't have "tags" on them. Can anyone explain what they mean when they say theirs had "tags" on them? They just have these metal clamps on them at the end of the drawstring, which is used by the p.o. I'm assuming. They also say "domestic" on them which concerned me a bit, since they're being sent over to the UK. And lastly does anyone know round about how much to mail these buggers? I asked the lady at the p.o. and she confirmed that cd's can be sent via m-bag.

I am thinking the people who said tags meant the label for the shipping address. Eventually they will get attached when the clerk cinches the bag closed with the clamp so no immediate need for them now.

Here is the website all about M-Bags...

http://pe.usps.gov/text/imm/immc2_019.html#vnameref_1

As I recall on M-bags, you have to send a minimum of 11 pounds and a maximum of 66 pounds (WAY too much, you have to carry these buggers).  The cost to me was around 90 cents a pound, but that was a few years ago.

I think I remember seeing somewhere that 30 pounds of books cost roughly $20.00 to ship. It is quite inexpensive.

you don't have to SEND a minimum of 11 pounds you just have to PAY the minumum price for 11 pounds. The maximum weight is 66 pounds.

The price varies given the destination.

Read the website I linked above straight off the USPS.

It is WAY more reasonable than shipping via airmail or even surface mail.

Thanks everyone for your comments, they were all very helpful--as usual. What a great forum with even greater people dispensing advice. 

Damn I sent my one box of study books via M Bag on September 30th and they still haven't arrived, they did say max 8 weeks and still nothing. I need those books to study for an exam.  The only reason I sent them was because they said to expect 8 weeks and its been over that.  I should have put a GPS on it to hunt it down myself, its probably still sitting in the back sorting room at the post office I dropped it off at.  Sorry just venting here.

Picked up an M-bag from the post office yesterday. Can't wait to see how many books I can fit inthere!

Paula1219,

Don't forget about the weight limit. I think it's 60lbs per bag. I also looked at the bag and was thinking about how much would fit into it, however 60lbs in books adds up quickly.

Rebecca

Thanks, mwrkgreen. The weight limit is 66#s, including bag weight. But I'm shipping mostly paperbacks so I don't think it'll be a problem. Although, the bags were smaller than I thought they'd be but I guess that's because the USPS doesn't want to pay workmen's comp from all of the hernias the worker's would get from picking up masses of books!

Paula,
Can you let me know around how much they charged you to ship the M bags when you turn them in? We're still working on ours and I would like to get a ballpark figure. I understand they charge based on weight.
Thanks so much!