Private or Mail Center Mailbox or Mail Forwarding Service?

[Z3Dreamer]

Having our mail stopped and started or forwarded during trips is a problem. Seems like our stop dates and start dates are only order of magnitude and not exact dates. USPS packages still seem to get delivered, even with a mail hold.

We have researched the above services (Private mailboxes and mail forwarding services). Wanted to know if anyone has used them. If so, what was your experience like?

USPS PO Box is $182 for six months. Mail forwarding service is around $100 for a year.

 

[euro]

It really depends on the specific needs. Many choices and they all provide slightly different services.

I have been using iPostal1 for quite some time now and it does everything I need it to do for $9.99 a month. But again, the devil is the detail (how many mail pieces per month, how many packages, do you pick up or do you want batch mailing, etc etc). iPostal1 happens to have many locations in my neck of the woods, but other areas of the country are less well represented.

 

[SnowballCamper]

I went ahead and got a big Fort Knox mailbox. We don't get packages unless we know they're coming. They've got models big enough to hold months of mail for us...and they're tougher than anything else I've seen. https://www.fortknoxmailbox.com

 

[swakyaby]

We make friends with our next-door neighbor and our neighbor across the street. When notified of them being out of town, we secure any deliveries that arrive to their front door, and make sure their trash barrels are put out on the curb and put away after. If asked, and a mail key is left for us, we secure their mail as well. They do the same for us, if we tell them we’re going out of town.

 

[Closet_Gamer]

We used Traveling Mailbox for several years when we were expats (and still have them).

The service is reliable and the tools work well. A little complicated because mail needs to go to one address while packages go to another. They offer imaging, forwarding and check cashing services.

I would use them again.

Funny side story with a bit of a warning....

We put mail forwarding on our home address to send things to our traveling mailbox. When we were back in the US for a bit, I ordered a product online to be shipped by UPS to our house.

What I didn't know was that UPS had outsourced some of their shipments to USPS.

USPS got the package...looked up the mail forwarding...and promptly sent it to the Traveling Mailbox address...where we were charged a fee for sending a package to the mail address and they had to ship it to the packaging address.

Annoyed, I paid Traveling Mailbox to ship it back to my house. I forget who they used for shipping...but that carrier also had outsourced some of their shipping to the USPS...

You guessed it: USPS saw the mail forwarding on our address and promptly shipped it right back to Traveling Mailbox who once again forwarded it the package address and charged us for doing so.

In the end, I had them send it to a friend's house. By that time, we had returned to the UK and I had to get my items the next time I was in the US.

 

[Alex The Great]

Actually there was a similar tread I opened a while ago:
https://www.early-retirement.org/forums/f28/virtual-mail-box-for-expats-112540.html
After some research, I decided to go with US Global Mail service. Cannot comment on it as I did not start using it yet.

 

[SecondAttempt]

Just a heads up...

For several years I have kept a mailbox near work mostly to receive packages but also got some mail there. Earlier this year they went out of business, a victim of Covid. I found out that the USPS will not forward mail from one of those places even when they close.

I did not really have any important mail sent there so it was not a big deal for me. Just something to keep in mind if you use a service like this and decide to stop or if they close.