Establish Business Mailing Address

 

 

The second thing you need to do when setting up a new business after deciding the Business Name is to decide what the Mailing Address will be for your new business. The physical location where you receive your business mail could be a factor based on distance and convenience.

 

You choose your new business mailing address from these choices:

 

 

Your current mailing address:

 

This is the simplest address to use but mail will be traceable and in fact delivered to your living address. NOT recommended if you wish to disappear or protect your privacy.

 

Advantages:

 

Convenience of home delivery

 

No monthly service fees

 

No photo ID needed for setting up service

 

Disadvantages:

 

Lack of privacy

 

Your business mail is traceable to your living address

 

Your business mail is delivered to your living address

 

Your mail is NOT protected from theft unless you have a lockable mailbox. Packages that do not fit in the mailbox will not be protected if left on the porch by USPS, FEDEX, UPS, etc.

 

If a signature is required and you are not available to sign, your packages will be held at a regional center for pickup, which might not be convenient.

 

If you move to a new living address, you will have to forward your mail and set up a new mailing address.

 

 

A friends or relative’s mailing address:

 

This address choice might be inconvenient or impractical. It may NOT be safe if you must protect your location from being discovered by anyone or someone in particular.

 

Advantages: 

 

No monthly service fees

 

Your business mail does not deliver to your living address

 

Your business mail is not traceable to your living address because your friend will never tell

 

No photo ID needed for setting up service

 

Disadvantages:

 

You must travel to pick-up your business mail. Do not trust your friend or relative to bring mail to you if you need to keep your living address private.

 

The RISK that you CANNOT trust your friend, relative, their snoopy neighbors and friends, your snoopy other friends, to NOT track you to your living address.

 

A horrific person who you need to escape from could possibly know your friends and relatives and be smart enough to track you from this address to your living address

 

Your mail is NOT protected from theft unless you have a lockable mailbox. Packages that do not fit in the mailbox will not be protected if left on the porch by USPS, FEDEX, UPS, etc.

 

If a signature is required and you are not available to sign, your packages will be held at a regional center for pickup, which might not be convenient.

 

If you move to a new living address, you will have to have your friend forward your mail and set up a new mailing address unless you are still close enough to get your mail.

 

 

P O Box at a United States Postal Service (USPS) office:

 

This can be an excellent choice for privacy and safety purposes if you do it right.

 

When you go to the Post Office to open a P O Box, two current forms of ID are required. One form of identification must be photo ID. The other must include your physical address. Acceptable forms of ID are listed further on.

 

Advantages:

 

Less expensive than a Private Mail service

 

There is 24-hour / 7 days a week / 365 days a year access to your P O Box and keyed lockers for smaller packages too big to fit in your P O Box. Large packages are held for pickup during business hours.

 

USPS P O Box rental offers a more permanent address than private mailbox services, which go in and out of business and move locations. (This advantage diminishes as the USPS downsizes and closes locations).

 

USPS forwards P O Box mail after the box is closed for six months at no extra charge

 

They only want to see your ID and don’t take copies, which is better for your privacy.

 

Street Addressing for P O Box:  Beginning in April 2012, A USPS customer's mailing address may now be the street address for the Post Office, followed by # or unit and the box number. Street addressing allows private carriers such as FEDEX and UPS to deliver to a P O Box.

 

Your mail is protected from theft in the locked P O Box, a locker, or larger packages are securely held for pickup during business hours

 

If a signature is required, your letter or package will be safely held until you sign for it during business hours.

 

Disadvantages: 

 

You must travel to a USPS location to pick-up your business mail.

 

P O Box fees

 

If you order over the Internet, some sellers will refuse shipment to a P O Box. This can be solved if Street Addressing for the P O Box is applied for (covered in more detail below)

 

There is a risk that friends, relatives, or a horrific person you escaped from could track you to a USPS location near to your previous address or a location you have used before. Best to use a location you have never used before. Somewhere far away from your previous living addresses.

 

If you move to a new living address, you will have to forward your mail and set up a new mailing address unless you are still close enough to pick up your mail.

 

 

When you go to the Post Office to open a P O Box, You will have to fill out and sign USPS Form 1583A and present two current forms of ID. One must be some form of photo identification. The other must include your physical address. Acceptable forms of ID are listed below. Click below to access the form:

 

USPS Form 1583A

 

 

Acceptable Photo ID:

 

Valid driver's license or state identification card

 

Armed forces, government, university, student, or recognized corporate identification card

 

Passport, passport card, alien registration card, or certificate of naturalization

 

 

Acceptable Non-Photo IDs:

 

Current lease, mortgage, or deed of trust

 

Voter or vehicle registration card

 

Home or vehicle insurance policy

 

 

NOTE:  If you need to keep your future location private, use ID from your previous address or don’t change your address on one form of ID. This way, you can continue to use your previous address for future privacy purposes. This way your P O Box can be registered to your previous address (an address you no longer live at). Your old neighbors DO NOT know where you moved to because you did not tell them or misdirected them. Neither can they contact you because you did not give them contact information. If you need to stay in touch with someone, I will give you a safe manner that will be shown further on. You can continue to renew your P O Box without proof of your living address and so keep your living address private or move to a new hidden address at will.

 

 

Street Addressing for P O Box

 

Beginning in April 2012, a P O Box mailing address may now be the street address of the Post Office, followed by # and box number, or P O Box followed by box number. You must submit a Customer Agreement form to request the Street Addressing alternative. You can get the proper form from your local USPS location or online here:

 

Street Addressing Service for Your P.O. Box

 

 

Here’s how Street Addressing with USPS P O Boxes works. Instead of putting “P O Box 123″ as the street address, box holders can now use the street address of the post office followed by the box number. For example, “2468 Main St #123 or Unit 123″, 2468 Main St being the street address of the post office where P O Box 100 is located. The USPS will deliver mail addressed in this manner to the P O Box.

 

NOTE:  You must follow the USPS guidelines for “street addressing” or the item will be returned to the sender. For example, you cannot use “suite”, “apt”, or “room” before the box number in the street address.

 

NOTE:  The USPS forbids the use of the P O Box street address as a physical address for either yourself or your business in legal documents. However, you may be able to use a P O Box Street Address and leave off your box number (this is not in accordance with the rules but I know it can work).

 

NOTE:  Some merchants or private carriers such as UPS and FedEx do not allow shipping to a P O Box address. The P O Box Street Addressing alternative enables you to receive packages and mail from private carriers or merchants who want a street address for delivery of your parcels.

 

Now businesses managed out of the home can have a street address for the business without having to list their home address, by renting a P O Box and using Street Addressing.

 

Packages delivered by private carriers accepted with “street addressing”

 

The USPS will not only receive letters Street Addressed to a P O Box, it will also receive packages delivered by private carriers such as UPS and FedEx that are Street Addressed. Now you don’t have to plan your workday around package deliveries. The post office will receive them for you and put them in your P O Box or a secure lockbox for bigger packages if one is available. The key for the lockbox is placed in your P O Box, so you can pick up the package any time. For larger packages, you pick it up at the service counter during business hours.

 

NOTE:  Customers who sign and present the Customer Agreement for Street Addressing should NOT present a Change of Address (COA) from their P O Box to the associated street-style address.

 

Email or Text Messages Notice for a P O Box:  Many but not all USPS locations now provide email or text message notice (one or the other but NOT both). Contact the USPS location you use or wish to use to find out if this choice is available at that particular location.

 

I currently have two P O Boxes in different locations … One allows email or Text Message Notice and the other does not.

 

 

Private Mail Service:

 

Many Private Mail providers will rent you a locked box in a wall much like a P O Box at a USPS location. There are also online providers that give you the convenience of a street address in another state. The services provided vary with the individual Private Mail Service provider.

 

This is a good alternative to a P O Box and can provide advantages NOT available with a P O Box. A Private Mail Service can also be an excellent choice for privacy and safety purposes if you do it right and pick the right provider.

 

Advantages:

 

Mail forwarding to different locations:  I use a Private Mail Service while cruising aboard my boat to send mail to my current location in the world. USPS will forward to one address but not constantly changing addresses. I also will have mail sent to my next port of call so it is there for me on arrival. By leaving a balance of funds to draw from or a debit card on file, some Private Mail Service providers will send your mail to you wherever you may be. You call or email with a new forwarding address for your current location in the world be it a marina, USPS General Delivery, a relative, friend, etc. I have had mail sent to a friend’s address, which brings the mail with them when they travel to meet me at that wonderful Island of Paradise I’m currently visiting, etc. The same can be done while traveling in your RV or Land Yacht. Maybe you have a friend or relative willing to provide this service for you.

 

A private mail service can receive mail from private couriers and packages from UPS, FEDEX, etc.

 

You will have a street address, which sometimes is necessary (you might be able to use this street address on your driver’s license instead of your living address)

 

Your mail is protected from theft in a locked box like a P O Box

 

If so allowed, staff can sign for packages on your behalf so your package is available for pickup rather than you having to sign for delivery then return at a future date to get it.

 

There are online Mail Forwarding services that open your mail and make images available online so you can preview your mail and choose which ones you have sent to you. They destroy the rest so you save on mail forwarding costs by only sending the mail you need to receive to your hand. These places can be far from where you live or are currently hanging out.

 

NOTE:  If you need to escape from a horrific person, you could use an online service located in a part of the country (even a different state) far from where you live. This is a form of misdirection to anyone trying to track you by your mailing address. The online service can forward mail to you at a protected mailing address in another state or country!

 

Disadvantages:

 

USPS will NOT forward mail from a closed private mailbox service.

 

Private mail services sometimes close or move.

 

I had the unfortunate experience of having a private mail service close on me and my mail was not allowed to be forwarded. Some important mail never delivered to me. This was a major inconvenience and there were unexpected serious consequences. I chose to move my mailing address to a P O Box. In the future, with USPS downsizing, you still might not avoid this potential pitfall even with a P O Box.

 

You will have to sign a “Private Mailbox Rental Agreement” that includes much small print. If you are in the United States, you will also have to fill out and sign the USPS Form 1583a (June 2011). If an agent of the Private Mailbox does not witness your signature, it must be notarized. You are required to provide two forms of identification, same as for a P O Box.

 

The Postmaster or designee at a Private Mail service may want a photocopy of your picture ID for “verification purposes”.

 

All major private mail service addresses are kept in commercial databases. This will block your efforts to use such an address on your driver’s license or for any other official use. A single-location mom-and-pop provider might not appear in commercial databases and avoid this potential issue.

 

If you order over the Internet, some sellers will refuse shipment to such an address.

 

I’ve never had a problem with Amazon, eBay, or for any other online purchase but I suppose it is possible given the data sharing that is possible these days.

 

You may or may not get 24 / 7 / 365 access to your mail box, signing for packages requiring a signature, usable street address, mail forwarding, etc. Services vary from provider to provider.

 

 

RECOMMENDATION:  Contact Private Mail Service providers in the area you want to receive mail or online and get answers to your questions about services provided so you can find one to meet your specific needs.

 

You can check out some mail forwarding services online by clicking on this link:

 

Private Mail Forwarding Services