Just wondering where is the best place to buy a p.o. box? Any suggestions? or anyone use: Mail Boxes Etc. or USPS? and know the pricing? thanks :)

The post office?

Though you can send packages there.

your local post office. That's where I have mine.
Not sure how much more Mail Boxes ETC would be. But that's also a great place.

Just depends on distance..

I do it at my local post office (USPS). Great service, great price!

Yeah the USPS is alot cheaper than mail boxes etc. I am pretty sure mail boxes etc was like 22ish a month and I think the USPS is only costing me about that a quarter.

Originally posted by PixelOptik
Just wondering where is the best place to buy a p.o. box? Any suggestions? or anyone use: Mail Boxes Etc. or USPS? and know the pricing? thanks :) Of course the only place you can get a real "P.O. Box" is the post office. Anywhere else it's a "PMB" or "private mail box."

There are advantages and disadvantages to each. Generally a USPS box will be cheaper (I think we pay about $60 per year), but a private service will offer a wider range of services (often complete printing/copying services, fax, office supply sales, notary public, etc.). You can use your PMB address for deliveries by any service like FedEx, DHL, etc., which don't deliver to PO Boxes. And many PMB centers offer 24-hour access to your mailbox, while most USPS locations lock those doors at night even if they might be open later than the window service.

It used to be that an advantage of a PMB service was that your mailing address could look like a "real address" as opposed to a PO Box, but USPS regulations now require that the letters PMB precede your box number. That is, you're not supposed to say "Suite 300," you should use "PMB 300." But you still might be able to get away with it in some places.

Originally posted by JayC
Of course the only place you can get a real "P.O. Box" is the post office. Anywhere else it's a "PMB" or "private mail box."


thanks for the correction ;) I just called to verify the prices (at least in my location). If anyone cares to know for future reference they were as follows:

Mailboxes Etc: 3mths - $30 & 12mths - $96
USPS: 6mths-$24

I'm not sure if they vary in prices depending on location. Please correct me if I'm wrong :)

I didn't have a choice except for USPS.

Here we have a relatively small town and a *HUGE* post office which has a excess of PO boxes so the lowest priced boxes are like $18 a year. :D

I see the price for PO boxes varies widely.

Originally posted by JayC
And many PMB centers offer 24-hour access to your mailbox, while most USPS locations lock those doors at night even if they might be open later than the window service.

Ours is the exact opposite -- Mailboxes Etc. closes and you cannot access your box 24 hours a day, but our post office does keep the doors unlocked. The post office has two separate rooms -- one that has the PO Boxes in it and a machine to buy stamps, and then there is a door leading to where the workers are and you hand them your packages. This part is obviously locked off from the PO Boxes at night, but you can access your mail box 24 hours a day.

same as above post ^^

:(

yeah , of all of them , i would go usps .

Originally posted by PixelOptik


thanks for the correction ;) I just called to verify the prices (at least in my location). If anyone cares to know for future reference they were as follows:

Mailboxes Etc: 3mths - $30 & 12mths - $96
USPS: 6mths-$24

I'm not sure if they vary in prices depending on location. Please correct me if I'm wrong :)

They do vary even within your location. I have two MBE within 2-miles and the prices vary among the two MBE. The one I use in MN it's $45 for 3-months, $72 for six or $120 for 12-months for the 3-1/2X5X14 size. MBE is nice because they accept FedEx and UPS packages which the USPS doesn't. You can also call to check if you have mail before showing up and you can use their street so 1000 Whatever Street #200 instead of PO Box 200. Some like the one I use you can check your mail 24/7.

One more thing when I got my box the guy threw in 3-months free! So ask them if they have a "special" like that.

Yeah, I believe the MBE locations -- most of them anyway -- are franchised, and they probably can set their own prices; perhaps within some guidelines. So it's not surprising that even within the same city they might be different.

USPS boxes vary too, but I don't think you'll find differences within the same city -- except that they do have different prices for different sized boxes.
The post office has two separate rooms -- one that has the PO Boxes in it and a machine to buy stamps, and then there is a door leading to where the workers are and you hand them your packages. This part is obviously locked off from the PO Boxes at night, but you can access your mail box 24 hours a day.They must not trust us in NY. There are two post offices near me, both of which have that same setup with the boxes in the looby and a separate inner room where the service windows are. But while they do keep the lobby open a little later than the windows, they both are closed over night -- one at 6 pm and one at 7. Inconvenient for me, being a late-night person.

All MBE locations are indeed franchised. I'm paying $60/qtr for service that includes weekly mailforwarding if i choose it and i get a good rate on outgoing packages :D

i would go with USPS - private companies/MBE sometimes go out of business and that can be a pain

as we all know, USPS is goverment backed, therefore the chance of you loosing your address/service is virtually non-existent