I Mail To Prison .Com

Mailing to Texas Prison Inmates.
Please read FAQs beloww.
More links of interest to Family and Friends of Texas Prison Inmates are also on the bottom of this page.

We can accept orders by phone, by mail,
in the bookstore or on-line!

Grab Bags:

All Grab Bags are packed from excess books from our store or purchased from library sales, garage sales and other outside sources. Grab Bags contain about 30 books which is often close to 36 inches of books. The selection of Grab Bags changes with the availability of books. Prices for Grab Bags on the shopping site include tax as well as shipping and handling.

Writing Supplies:

A tithe of all writing supplies sold online goes to support The Prison Show on KPFT.

The people in charge of the Texas prison system are very picky about the supplies Inmates can receive from outside. We have Writing & Sketching Pads, Envelopes, Carbon Paper, Journals, and Typing Paper. No staples, No colored paper.

Shipping is USPS Parcel Post rate and Handling fee is the cost of the box plus $1. Prices becomes more reasonable as more items are shipped.

More Books On line:
A selection of books and book sets, priced including shipping and handling on our web site.

Puzzle Books: By Dell & Penny Press: Crossword, Logic, Word Search and more! All with Free Shipping!

2012 Calendars available.

More Books from the Store:
Contact the store, we can check our shelves or order new books to ship to your inmate. Used books from our shelves will be 1/2 price, new books, in stock, or special ordered, are full price. (Customers with Trade Credit will have discounted prices!) Shipping and handling charges from $5 to $8 will be added based upon the number of books ordered.

Quick links to FAQ's

Q- How do I fill in the address form on the quick cart?

Q- Can I place my order by phone or mail?

Q- How much will I pay for shipping items purchased on-line?

Q-How long until my inmates gets the package?

Q- What kind of Grab Bags are available today, should I call the store to find out?

Q- I Do not see a Grab Bag that is just exactly the type of books I want to order for an inmate can you make one up for my order?

Q- How often can I send a Grab Bag?

Q- Can Paperback Swap N Shop send the book or supplies I purchased at another store to a Texas Prison Inmate?

Q- Can Paperback Swap N Shop order used or new books not in the store or on the web site for a Texas Prison Inmate?

Q- What about writing supplies not on the list, can I send art supplies?

Q- What exactly are the rules on what inmates can and cannot receive?

Q-My inmate is in a County Jail / Federal Penitentiary / Prison outside of Texas. Will Paperback Swap N Shop mail to those units.

Q- Can a Inmate of a Texas Prison order books or Grab Bags directly from the store using the Commissary Account "Trust Check"

Q- What if my inmate is moved before the package arrives? What if the package never arrives at the prison unit? What if my inmate is released before the package arrives?

IMailToPrison.Com

Inmate On-Line Orders- F.A.Q.

Q- How do I fill in the address form on the quick cart?

First you will need to fill in your personal information. Just below that you will see the inmate's shipping information. Please Use address line #1 or "Company" for Unit name and Inmate number. For Example:

Johnny Q. Smith.................................. First Name, Initial, Last Name

That Unit # 3987654.......................Unit Name and Inmate Number - use "company" line

123 FM 456 ..............................................Unit Street Address

That City, ...................................................Unit City

TX 77777................................................State and Zip Code

123-456-7890 ____ ................................Put in any 10 digits

you@your_emai.net.....................................Your email address,.

PayPal Customers: PayPal program may not allow shipping to an address other than your own.

You may either put the inmate's address in the special instructions portion of the shopping cart, or send a separate email with that information using the "Contact Us" link..

Q- Can I place my order by phone or mail?

Yes, however it is easier if you fill out the form on the quick cart from the shop site and use the "Print and Call" option on the payment screen. Then all you will need to do is give us the CC/Debit card information by phone. The information on the books or supplies you order, the inmates name & mailing as well as your e-mail will available to us.

Print and Call can also be used with the option of mailing a money order NOT A CHECK to pay for your purchase. Please send us an e-mail if that is your plan. Orders will be held one week with confirmation. We can hold longer upon customer request.

If you call the store to place the order you will have to wait while we take care of customers in the store and look up the same information on-line that is available to you. We will attempt to hold the phone with one hand while typing with the other hand. Phone orders will incur a receipt fee.

Q- How much will I pay for shipping items purchased on-line?

Many of the items on the shop web site are priced with shipping, or have free shipping. Those include the Grab Bags, Puzzle Books, New Books shipped from our wholesaler, Calendars, and Used Book Sets.

Our shipping rates are USPS Parcel Post Rate plus handling of $1. USPS rate for shipping an empty box next door, with delivery confirmation, is $5.20. So the lowest shipping charge possible is $6.20.. Each item ordered adds weight which increases the shipping, but often by pennies per item. Rates also increase by distance shipped. These factors are all taken into account by the shopping cart software to determine the price of each package. Shipping may be upgraded by the store to "USPS Priority " if cost allows. Customers will see the shipping charge on the right hand of the screen when checking out, as you enter the billing and shipping addresses, and before payment is required.

Q- How long until my inmates gets the package?

Often less than a week.

Your order will have USPS Delivery Confirmation, so both the customer and the store can track delivery.

New books are shipped direct from our wholesaler to your inmate. In most cases those go out 1 to 2 business days after the order has been placed. You will get a separate tracking number for those books after we receive the confirmation from the wholesaler. If the order is back-ordered, we will let you know that too.

All other items are mailed out in one to three business days. The unit mail room will check and deliver the package within 48 hours of arrival(This does not including weekends or holidays.) Shipping time varies; Most packages will arrive at the unit from 2 to 4 days of mailing.

Q- What kind of Grab Bags are available today, should I call the store to find out?

We always have Standard Grab Bags. Our shop site on the web is the best place to get information on what other Grab Bags are available. As time and books supplies permit, some unique bags are made and listed on the site. To be sure of getting the best information look at the shop site

WWW.Shop.PaperBackSwapNShop.Com

Q- I Do not see a Grab Bag that is just exactly the type of books I want to order for an inmate can you make one up for my order?

Sad to say, but no. Grab Bags are made from excess stock. or stock from special purchases, such as a bookstore that has gone out of business. When there is books are available to make a western bag, a science fiction bag, a non-fiction bag or some other special bag we do so. We can not make Grab Bags to order. If your inmate requires certain types of books, call the store to order books at regular prices; used books are 1/2 price. Shipping and Handling Charges will apply.

Q- How often can I send a Grab Bag?

I do not recommend sending more than one Grab Bag per month. In Texas Prisons there is very often a problem with storage space. Your inmate may not have enough room to keep all 60 or so books at once. If you order more than one at one time, they will be shipped. Please ask your inmate about his/her storage space first.

Q- Can Paperback Swap N Shop send the book or supplies I purchased at another store to a Texas Prison Inmate?

Absolutely Not!

This could endanger our privilege of mailing to every inmate.

Q- Can Paperback Swap N Shop order used or new books not in the store or on the web site for a Texas Prison Inmate?

Yes – Thousands of new books can be ordered at publisher price. Just about anything you want is available from our national wholesaler: bestsellers, new books, older titles, fiction and non-fiction.

Paperback Swap N Shop will also order used books from on line book search service or new books ordered from on-line publishers/web sites; A $5 search/ordering fee for each book and shipping charges will be added to the price the store pays for the book.

Q- What about writing supplies not on the list, can I send art supplies?

If TDCJ approves of an item, we will be happy to research pricing and availability and if feasible expand our product line. Vendors are not able to send pens, pencils or art supplies into prison. Rumor has it that colored map pencils are available in some commissaries.- I am trying to verify this information.

Q- What exactly are the rules on what inmates can and cannot receive?

This paragraph is from the TDCJ Publication

General Information Guide for Families of Offenders (December 2010 )

MAIL

The families and friends of offenders are

encouraged to write often. Letters sent to

offenders should include the offender’s name,

TDCJ number and unit address on the

envelope. All mail addressed to offenders

must be received through authorized channels.

Letters for different offenders should not be

included in the same envelope. Offenders are

not allowed to correspond with other offenders

without meeting specific criteria stated in

Board Policy 03.91 – Uniform Offender

Correspondence Rules (Section I.B.1)

Mail is forwarded to offenders who transfer

from one unit to another within TDCJ. Letters

will be forwarded to offenders who are

released from prison, if the offender provides a

forwarding address at his last unit of

assignment.

Offenders may not write to minors whose

parents disapprove, with the exception of an

offender’s own children or stepchildren (unless

the child or stepchild is the offender’s victim).

Unauthorized materials or contraband found in

mail addressed to offenders will be rejected.

Individuals who carry out serious violations of

the correspondence rules may not be allowed

to write to an offender.

Newspapers, magazines and books may be

mailed directly to offenders only by the

publisher, publication supplier or bookstore;

subject to review and rejection in accordance

with the correspondence rules. Offenders may

receive reference books and other educational

materials from volunteer organizations that

operate the following types of programs:

literacy and education, life skills, job skills,

drug and alcohol rehabilitation, support

groups, arts and crafts and any other

programs designed to aid offenders in the

transition between confinement and society.

Stationery (defined as white, undecorated

paper, not to exceed the size of 8½” x 11”, or

unstamped white envelopes, including carbon

paper and white envelopes with the offender’s

commitment name and TDCJ number

preprinted in the return address portion of the

envelope, but excluding any paper with names,

addresses or letterhead and excluding tablets

or writing pads with stapled binding) may be

mailed to offenders only from legitimate

vendors or suppliers of stationery.

Items such as food, clothing, jewelry and toiletries may

not be mailed to offenders. Individuals may

not mail packages to offenders.

Q- My inmate is in a County Jail / Federal Penitentiary / Prison outside of Texas. Will Paperback Swap N Shop mail to those units?

Please, contact the prison/jail mail room first! All of these will have their own guidelines. Find out who is allowed to mail in what merchandise and if there are restrictions on how many books, paper tablets, or other items inmates in that unit are allowed to receive at a time.

Federal Inmates may receive only 3 books per package.
No paper or envelopes may be sent into Federal Units.

Every county jail has standards set by that county, please contact that county jail before placing an order. We have rarely been able to send a Grab Bag to a county jail.

Many states have fewer restrictions on prison mail than Texas.

After you have confirmed that the Federal Prison, County Jail, or other state's prison will allow the merchandise, you should place your order.

Q- Can a Inmate of a Texas Prison order books or Grab Bags directly from the store using the Commissary Account "Trust Check"

Yes, but inmates do not have as many options. Special Grab Bags are not available by Trust Check. Also it is a challenge to communicate by mail when inmates want specific books. Inmates who use Trust Checks are eligible for certain discounts. Send us your inmate's name and address so we will mail them an information letter and order form.

Q- What if my inmate is moved before the package arrives? What if the package never arrives at the prison unit? What if my inmate is released before the package arrives?

Paperback Swap N Shop has a USPS Delivery Confirmation number to track every package we send.

We guarantee delivery to the unit to which the package was addressed.

If an error is made by Paperback Swap N Shop we will reship at no charge.

The unit mail room will log in packages addressed to inmates in that unit. If the inmate has moved, the package should not be logged and the package will be forwarded by the Post Office only if a USPS Change of Address form has been filled out. The Post Office will not forward packages that have address corrected by the prison mail room. In some cases the unit may forward mail on a TDCJ truck going to the new unit.

If a package is incorrectly addressed or if your inmate has been moved the package may be returned to the store. Return shipping can often take 3 weeks. Paperback Swap N Shop will re-mail it for postage plus $1. On those occasions that the store pays return postage, that too will be charged to the customer.

If the package is returned because the inmate is released and/or if for any other reason it is not to be reshipped, the price of the product we be refunded. Paperback Swap N Shop will not refund those shipping charges. - Fair is Fair

Q- What if books are sent that are rejected, denied and or banned by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice Censors?

Any New Book that is purchased from this site and later rejected by TDCJ as containing banded material will be replaced by a book of your choice that is of equal value to the one ordered. This does not include books specifically requested by customers. If you contact us requesting specific books, we will try to let you know which books are likely to be rejected. The customer's use of the list of TDJC banned books or your phone call to TDCJ mail rooms is the only thing close to a guarantee. Occasionally we receive notice that a title we have mailed for years is now banned. Forbidden subjects include sexual images (that cannot be successfully defended as "art") bomb making, racially derogatory language, prison escape or books describing various sexual behaviors, including homosexuality, S/M, rape, incest, child molestation.

Books in Used Book Sets have been checked against the list of banned books. This database was prepared in 2010 and so does not give information on any books added to the list since that time.

When we pack Grab Bags we try not to put in any books that we believe will be rejected. It seems that some units have stronger or different standards than others (or some mail rooms do not check every book?) I know that sometimes banned books do get packed. For this reason we estimate the number of Thriller/Suspense books in a Standard Grab Bag as 8 to 10 when, supply permitting, we pack 10 to 12 of those titles. We can not guarantee that any or all books in any package are acceptable to TDCJ. However if more than 3 books are rejected from any one grab bag, this store will replace those books at no charge. Inmates need to request that copies of denial forms be sent to the store. This is a service provided by TDCJ at no cost to inmates.

A list of books that TDCJ had banned through 2010 is now available.

Link here to view and search list.

Q- More questions? Contact Us.< use that link or call 281-534-3370.

Send us a note, we can mail/email copies of this FAQ list, book & grab bag order forms, and our price/policy letter to you or to your inmate.

Thank you for reading this information.
To shop for your inmate, click on the picture below.

Quick links to FAQ's

Q- How do I fill in the address form on the quick cart? Q- Can I place my order by phone or mail?

Q- How do I fill in the address form on the quick cart?

Q- Can I place my order by phone or mail?