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cathoderaydude
@cathoderaydude

a couple years ago I got a PO box at the UPS Store. i wasn't sure it would be useful at first until i realized how they work.

  • they are not obviously PO boxes. there are some services that won't ship to a PO box, or that can't accept the right address format for one. UPS gives you a "suite number" which, generally speaking, nobody can identify as anything other than a business

  • packages do not have to fit in your box. you can get the smallest one they offer, because they just stick whatever doesn't fit on a shelf and put a claim tag in your box.

  • your packages are guaranteed to get delivered; you will never get a bullshit "nobody was home :)" message ever again, because people are paid to be there 8am-8pm.

  • nothing can ever get stolen unless a store employee does it, and they're under surveillance all day.

  • you can leave a package there indefinitely if you aren't available to collect it right away

  • you get an email whenever a package is received with the tracking number that was on it

  • if you're getting stuff that does fit in the box, you can go in after hours with a key to retrieve it. so if you're expecting important documents or a check or something, you can have it sent there and pick it up at midnight if need be.

so in short, if you have ~$30/mo. to spare (it might be more or less at your local store), this will put an absolute end to package theft, or expensive stuff being left on your doorstep without your knowledge. you can be out of town for a week and anything you've ordered will be safe until you return, and you'll even be able to tell that it was delivered safely from afar.

"surely there's a limit to how large a package they'll accept" there is not. i once saw a guy get an air conditioner delivered there. no, not a window air conditioner, a full size outside compressor with hoses and ductless units. it sat in the store for two weeks while he negotiated a return due to shipping damage. a couple weeks ago i went in and saw that someone had received freight. there was an entire wooden pallet stacked seven feet tall with boxed pottery, and it sat there for two days. i had someone send me 50 pounds of laptops literally in an action packer, yes, like the dildo joke i made on twitter. so i can promise, you will not be the most irritating customer they have.


thricedotted
@thricedotted

great info in original post but also can we just appreciate this very real copy from the ups store dot com slash mailboxes



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in reply to @cathoderaydude's post:

Seconded! As a weirdo who traffics in weird business on the weird internet, the UPS Store has proven indispensable. I have gotten hundreds of pounds of merchandise. My place will charge you if you leave too much stuff there for too long, but they will also give you a courtesy phone-call before that. Oh, and you can call them and ask if your stuff showed up.

The UPS Store is a franchise, so some places might be run better than others. Ask if they'll give you a discount, if you buy several years in advance.

In a similar vein for people in Canada there is a free Flex Delivery service; you specify a pick up location, they do give you a virtual PO box number (which might not work everywhere but it does work most of the time), you pick up your stuff from that location once it is delivered; there is no actual box, they just keep in on shelves at postal office.

yeah! the thing i like is that this is a business, and the fact is that parcel carriers treat businesses better. every day this store gets visited by one USPS van, one fedex van, and one UPS van, and they all know each other and the packages all get trundled right in the front door on a cart. it's a business route, so there's basically no risk of the carrier being pissed off that day and frisbeeing your package onto the stoop. i have total sympathy for how much delivering to residential must suck, just, it is what it is - removing the residential from the equation makes things easier for everyone involved!

I love the UPS solution, the only downside is that if there is an import duty on whatever you bought (in Canada: most of the time) neither the shipper nor, probably, the UPS store will notify you that an unsuccessful delivery attempt was made (because the UPS store will not pay the duty for you). So in that case you need to watch the delivery tracker like a hawk because they usually will not put up the notice you owe money until at least one unsuccessful attempt was made.

Another piece of advice, if you take the UPS solution: Some online vendors, like Amazon, will let you mark that your delivery address is a "business" and has specific business hours. Amazon will then ignore what you told them and attempt to deliver during unavailable times anyway, but at least you'll know you told them

I think UPS (not the UPS store, it's a different org) will let you register a phone number with your address so if a UPS delivery person shows up and can't reach you they call/email you even if there's no number on the deliberuy

in reply to @cathoderaydude's post:

FWIW USPS gives you a real street address now with the number on the end like an apartment and is like $120 a year. I get everything delivered to a PO Box. Used to use UPS and considered it again but it’s so much cheaper with USPS.