I need to mail some books and papers (a couple of boxes’ worth, anyway) to the US. Can anyone recommend an efficient and affordable way to do this?
Thanks!
Shelley
Actually the post office is surprisingly affordable for mailing books (i.e., bound printed matter, so including magazines etc.). It’s been a while, so I won’t try to quote prices. Just make sure you do them up securely and send 'em by surface.
Papers are another thing altogether, and I’ve never found a cheap way to mail them.
Ask your local post office in the states for a special type of bag called an M-Bag. Pack your books in a box. Put the box or boxes in this bag and you save a lot of money.
M-bags come in different sizes, mainly used for printed matter but I sent my entire DVD an book collection back and forth.
OP is in Taiwan.
Just ask for book rate/printed matter (“yin shua pin”) at the Post Office. And even if you have enclosed a note…well…of course you haven’t. You can’t officially enclose anything handwritten like a cover letter, note, etc. inside a printed matter box, but then again they don’t search it, do they? 
[quote=“ironlady”]OP is in Taiwan.
Just ask for book rate/printed matter (“yin shua pin”) at the Post Office. And even if you have enclosed a note…well…of course you haven’t. You can’t officially enclose anything handwritten like a cover letter, note, etc. inside a printed matter box, but then again they don’t search it, do they? [/quote]
Yes, I meant the Taiwanese post office. I’ve never asked about the “M-Bag” thing, but even so my books were relatively cheap to send.