You Don’t Have a Post Office Box!

In this day and age the post office box is an indispensable tool to managing the drudgery of snail mail, regardless of whether it's for business or personal use. A USPS post office box has its limitations, however, from the small size of the box to the fact that you have to go to the post office to pick up your mail.

On the other hand, there are many online mailbox rental companies who are able to provide you with immediate access to viewing the mail you have received, for a very reasonable nominal fee per month. This is especially convenient as you are then able to browse through you mail and sort out the important correspondence from the junk mail (which they will at your request discard for free).

You are also in charge of when and where your mail and merchandise gets forwarded to you and most have no limit on the number of forwarding addresses you may use.

It's also cost effective as more than one person can share a mailbox, some companies allow up to 3 people to share a mailbox. There are many differing rental structures. Post offices generally charge per size of mailbox as well as location. Independent mail companies usually charge a once off set up fee and a nominal rental fee.

Besides providing a safe means of receiving mail, when you rent a post box there are usually related services that you are privy too; hence offering a complete mail managing solution at your disposal.

These services differ amongst the various post box providers. They include:
- Mail forwarding
- Storage facilities
- Repackaging and consolidating
- Document scanning

We've become so familiar and accustomed to how email enables instant messaging and response however we still have paper correspondence in circulation. Having a post office box can provide you with the same sense of immediacy that electronic mail provides, particularly if you can access it online to view the paper mail and merchandise you have received. For online mailbox rental companies this service is usually standard and included in your monthly fee. On the other hand, if you are renting from a post office there may me an additional fee for this service.

A mail view manager allows you to view mail you have received anywhere in the world, as long as you are able to connect to the internet; and create a forwarding schedule to have it sent to you. Independent mail service companies generally do not have any limits on the amount of addresses you can select from when forwarding your mail. Junk mail is also no longer a hassle either, as any mail you consider unnecessary can be discarded on request at no charge.

Postal services usually have set predetermined schedules for forwarding mail. Some may do this once a week to a specific address that is nominated by you.

By ensuring that your address is a physical street address and not a P.O. Box, you are also able to receive merchandise or documents via courier services other than the post office. Generally, a commercial mailbox rental service will ensure that your packages are signed for, received in good order and securely stored.

You are also able to take advantage of the cheaper local courier costs. And if you forward your mail to an overseas address you can benefit from the repackaging and reconsolidating service, which allows you to combine more than one item and ship them off together. Rates for this kind of service differ. Few companies offer a flat rate per box, while other charge a percentage of the courier cost.

In these economic uncertain terms a post office box can help you stretch your budget, even if it's on a shoestring that seems to have reached its end.

Buying from Abroad: Online Purchasing

Buying from Abroad can be a tricky venture. Regardless of whether you're a novice at purchasing online or an experienced internet shopper, it's always worthwhile to be aware of savvy nuances that make online shopping easier and ways to save on delivery costs.

Buying something from a website is not necessarily just a simple click away. Sometimes there are limitations in delivery options viz. the company only delivers locally. More often than not you only discover this when you going through the payment process, and you are forced to cancel the transaction, since you live abroad. This could be a great inconvenience.

Another factor to consider is shipping costs. It can be very expensive you purchase a few things from various sites and items get delivered individually. Being thrifty, when it comes to delivery of your goods is particularly beneficial in today's uncertain economy (currently with its great unpredictable fluctuations).

What are the basic solutions currently out there to the above-mentioned dilemmas?

If most of the shopping sites you visit are from a particular country, e.g. the US, it would be practical to have a mailbox with an US address, specifically a mailbox with a street address. By doing so, you circumvent the problem of having of some sites only delivering to local addresses.

Practically all post offices worldwide are able to rent you a mailbox however there are also many online companies that provide a mailbox service. Generally, post offices can only provide you with a P.O. Box address on the other hand online mailbox rental companies offer you a street address. The latter address, gives you the opportunity to receive courier packages directly to your mailbox.

More often than not the mail rental company also offers ancillary services in favor of getting your mail and goods to you. Overall, most of these rental box companies are affiliated to more than one courier provider. This provides you with the opportunity of obtaining quotes from several international shipping companies. An included benefit is that the major international courier companies enable you to track the progress of your goods online, as they make their journey to you.

Another supporting service is repackaging and consolidating. This allows you to combine several items and have them boxed and shipped to your address. This is more cost effective than having items individually forwarded. The payment rate for this service varies from company to company. Some may charge you as much as 10% of the delivery costs and others may just charge you per box.

Another notable difference from the mail box of a post office and one from an independent rental mailbox company is that the latter allows you the flexibility of mailing your packages to whatever address you choose. - Unlike a post office which generally allows you to only forward your mail to fixed a predetermined address.

In fact, these rental mailbox companies have filled the niche of problems you could experience when buying from abroad. They are simply an extension of a forward thinking world, adjusting to an ever increasing pace.

What’s the Hype about Having an American Address for Your Mail?

There are many websites on the internet that profess the benefits of an American address for personal and business use. Below are some of the reasons.

It could be to your advantage from a business aspect when having an American mailing address on your letterhead viz. conveying a professional global impression of your company.

An American address is also a prerequisite when applying for US banking and credit card accounts.

Some trade magazine subscriptions are only available within the US. By having a postal American address, you have access to these subscriptions.

Certain online shopping websites limit their deliveries to addresses inside the US. By having a mailbox with an American address, you no longer first need to enquire whether a site does ship outside of the US.

By having an American address, you can also take advantage of the reduced shipping costs locally, inside the US.

A typical characteristic of an online rental mailbox address is that it's a point from where you can send and receive mail regardless of where you are in the world. Another important aspect is that these mailbox accounts can be opened for business or personal use. Some may even allow more than one person to share a mailbox. It's an American address with perks. You are able to access and view a list of mail that is in your mailbox and manager all the facets of getting the mail to where you are in the world. This means you are in charge of what mail reaches you, when it gets to you and how it gets there.

There are a few American online rental mailbox services companies who provide you with a physical street address and not a P.O. Box, thus allowing you to receive packages from DHL, UPS and FedEx; which are in turn signed for and securely stored when received..

Many of these rental mailbox services have supporting facilities that assist you in saving costs when shipping your mail or storing your mail for an extended period, viz. reconsolidating and repackaging service, document scanning and warehouse storage facilities. They provide an invaluable service with an American address. It enables you to take advantage of publications that are limited subscriptions within the US. Also save on courier services within the US. Assist you in meeting a basic requirement of applying for a credit card.

By accessing the internet you can view your mail at your convenience and be in control of managing the forwarding timetable of your mail that fits in your personal schedule. Courier shipping can be expensive when forwarding singular packages add up and can be very costly. Having the cost effective solution of combining mail into one or two boxes can help stretch your purse strings a little further.

With today's economic global downturn it's good to know that you can save by simply making the right choice for the address of your mailbox.