I am looking into a P.O. Box in order to secure privacy from my seller's account... I have no plans on ever using it so I was going to go with the smallest and cheapest size P.O. Box my USPS had.... however, what happens if someone returns a coin to me and the package does not fit within the P.O. Box? Any other alternatives to P.O. Box that are cost effective? I've seen mail forwarding as another option but I think that is $15 a month.
My post office uses two methods when a piece won't fit in my tiny P.O. Box. 1) they drop a yellow card in the box telling me to get it at the counter, and 2) they have 5 huge lock boxes, lettered A-E, and if there's a key in my box, I go to the huge lock box with the corresponding letter on it.
Not sure what you mean. They leave a yellow note in my box. I take the note to the post office counter and they retrieve the package from the mail room.
Get a medium size box. It's not that much more and it can hold a Priority Mail Flat rate box inside it. I like receiving coins I order in my PO box because it is more secure than having it delivered to my box out on the street, and I know if I don't get around to picking it up no one is going to bother my mail until I do make it to the POB
Yes. Surely you can afford to pay 6 months at $38. Every day I see people at those small PO trying to pull out wads of newspaper ads crammed into those small boxes which are there to collect every local grocery ad and junk mail ad that is sent out. With the medium boxes, which are designated small business boxes, they do not get all of those ads.
Rate depends on size and location. I have a size 1 box, which is the smallest, and I have to pay $132/year way out in the Chicago suburbs. I have no idea what drives the local rates, because none of the rates for surrounding suburbs come even close to that, and most locations in the Chicago Loop area are cheaper. Oversized stuff goes into one of the larger lockers with a key put in my box.
I have the smallest size, and would never consider paying more for a bigger. Most my packages have to be signed for anyways, meaning they hold them in the back, and just leave a notice in the box.
Do you pay for your PO Box? Wow. Over here (DE) the ones from Deutsche Post, the biggest postal service, are free (except for a one-time €15 setup fee). After all, what goes into the box does not need to be delivered ... Christian
Maybe a silly question, but I'm honestly not sure... will other delivery services (FedEx/UPS) deliver to a USPS PO Box? Would they keep a UPS box behind the counter for you to pick up in the described fashion?
Actually a pretty good question. For some (perhaps all?) POs, you actually have "street addressing" available by using the address of the post office itself. For mine, instead of PO Box 3882, I'd use 1515 S Grove Ave #3882. I believe you have to actually sign up for it, though. You also can't receive anything that wouldn't be deliverable through USPS, as an attempt to get around the USPS shipping restrictions.
In general, a pretty good idea. I suggest you NEVER get a private box in a (private) storefront business; if you ever want to close it, and have mail forwarded to a new address, you have a BIG problem most of the time, and plenty of fees. Some businesses will not ship to a Post Office box. As to safety, if you can't trust the box clerk, WHO can you trust? I had a box for years and years until they consolidated to an office 8 miles away (heavy traffic 24/7) and that was too much hassle for the benefit. Our apartment building has its own lockbox, and that's usually sufficient. If you pay taxes as a business, you can write off the cost of the box, and the mileage coming and going. It is just a coincidence that we bought $142 worth of groceries on the way home.
I paid $80 per yr for the small box. It was $36 per yr when I first open this P.O. box about 25 yrs ago.
I just paid mine last week. It is $30 for a year and is the smallest box available. Up until about 2 years ago it was about $12 a year! When something is too big they put a key in the box that goes to a much larger box. Works really well for me because I am never able to go by when the PO is open. I've had this box for probably at least 25 years.
