Mailing books from London to US?

May 2, 2024 1:23 AM

Is there any kind of "media mail" equivalent in the UK? This is for a student who wants to bring his textbooks back to the US after a semester abroad. Shipping speed isn't an issue; obviously the weight of (ahem) too many books is.
posted by BlahLaLa to Grab Bag (6 answers total)

Best answer: Based on personal experience, the best way to do this is to put them in a roller bag and pay the overweight bag charge if it's overweight. It's very reasonable, I think BA charges £100 for a bag. This is much less expensive than Royal Mail.
posted by DarlingBri at 2:51 AM on May 2 [4 favorites]

The Royal Mail used to offer international M-Bag service to the US. I don't know if they still do; the last rate card I found on their website that mentions M Bags is dated 2014. This Reddit post from a year ago suggests that they still do. In 2014, it was about £2/kg for economy M-Bag service to the US, with expected delivery in 6-12 weeks. The maximum weight was 30 kg (66 lb.).

Even back in 1990, the last time I did that, most clerks at UK (and US) POs were unaware that the service existed.

I think DarlingBri's advice to pack the books in a roller bag and pay the extra luggage fee is going to be a lot less hassle than any kind of shipping service.
posted by brianogilvie at 3:55 AM on May 2 [2 favorites]

P.S. M-Bags, if they're still an option, are strictly for printed matter like books, magazines, etc. No personal items such as letters, etc. They can be opened for inspection, like media mail in the US.
posted by brianogilvie at 3:56 AM on May 2

Nthing the advice to just bring an extra piece of baggage along, especially if there are several (heavy!) textbooks. Maximum checked baggage weight is between 30kg and 23kg (there's some voodoo as to whether it's the extra checked bag or not, some routes and carriers vary, blah blah blah).

Did my old German roommate spend a small fortune to ship a TON of Stax records home to the old country? Yes. Did I end up ferrying several items of his home the next time I visited the old country, because he had to ditch them in the airport to make weight? Also yes.
posted by ivan ivanych samovar at 8:32 PM on May 2

> put them in a roller bag and pay the overweight bag charge

I've also had luck buying a new heavy duty cardboard box to use for checked luggage.
posted by sebastienbailard at 11:17 PM on May 2 [1 favorite]

UK international students from Asia would have a season of shipping things back by sea (not just books; but also SEAsian students tend to indulge in this more; China students tend to leave it all behind, India students would pass theirs on) with networks and contacts well-established, so likely sea shipping may still be available for North American routes, so ask around the international student circles at his faculty and see what's being arranged and get contacts. But people tend to club their stuff together because you get a big allotment on the pallet which may likely cause regional solutions like this to become common.... N. Am students I knew tend to come up with individual options like extra check-in luggage, it's true.
posted by cendawanita at 11:43 PM on May 2