So far, I have talked about a few methods you can use to reduce your postal mail and your junk mail.  The first is to try to get as much of your statements and bills online as possible.  This reduces mail and allows you to keep a digital archive of your finances, making the task of looking for old statements less of a hassle.  The second way I talked about is to rent a traditional postal mailbox from the US Postal Service, the UPS Store, or one of the local mailbox rental stores.  Direct mail marketers do not target these mailboxes as much as they do the residential housing addresses. Unfortunately, it costs money and is a hassle to go pick up mail every other day or at some periodic interval.

Online Postal Mailboxes

Wouldn’t it be great if you can get the best of both worlds?  Imagine a postal mailbox that acts like a traditional mailbox offered by USPS or UPS Store, and allows you to see your mail online in full digital color.  You never have to drive to check your mail or go to different websites just to grab a copy of your bills and statements.  Well, imagine no further, for in this day and age, such services actually exist.  I call them online postal mailboxes.

Now, there are very few of these services that exist in the U.S.  Of the few, I would like to specifically talk about the two that I believe are worth taking the time to look into – Earth Class Mail and MyPostalMail.com.

Earth Class Mail

Earth Class Mail started sometime near the end of 2005.  It has went through several name changes and rebranding such as Document Command and Remote Control Mail.  Earth Class Mail gives you many locations in the US to choose from.  Most of the locations are PO Boxes.  Currently, they have 5 non-PO Box locations:

  • Beaverton, OR
  • Seattle, WA
  • San Francisco, CA
  • West Hollywood, CA
  • New York, NY

Their lowest monthly price is $13.95 per month and the “premium” locations listed above are extra costs, ranging from $4.95/month for Beaverton to $24.95/month for New York.  These premium addresses are more expensive because they have an address that looks more professional than a PO.  This is very good if you are using your address for business or to make yourself look important.

Given what I discussed earlier, if your goal is to reduce junk mail, then getting a PO Box is more than plenty to reduce your trash mail.  In addition, you get to check your mail in your pajamas.  Save paper, save gas, save the environment.  This is a definite win-win deal.

Earth Class Mail has received some press coverage, from people such as TechCrunch to David Pogue on the NY Times Blog.  If you search for “earth class mail blog reviews”, you will find out more about what other people have to say about them.

MyPostalMail

Another upcoming star in this arena is MyPostalMail.  MyPostalMail is getting ready to launch its first location and is offering its basic plan for FREE.  Yes, you read it right.  Their basic plan gives you almost the same service that Earth Class Mail offers you.  MyPostalMail only offers professional addresses (non PO Box addresses), which are already included in the plan with no additional charge.  In addition, they also lets you select your own mailbox number.  I can already see some of you wanting to get your hands on that lucky (or perhaps unlucky?) number of yours.

Now, this all sounds great, but there is one caveat.  They currently only offer free accounts to students, military personnel, and non-profit organizations.  That means if you’re currently looking to have a mailbox for business, you will have to go to Earth Class Mail or somewhere else.

Another thing that MyPostalMail does not give you is the ability to receive courier packages.  Earth Class Mail gives you this option.  For the premium addresses, they plan to give you a will-call option to pick up your packages.  This was slated to be available in Spring of 2008, but Earth Class Mail’s website shows that it’s still not available yet.  Although this option sounds great, you also must pick a location close to you and drive there.  If you are driving to pick up the packages and mail, then you might as well choose a traditional rental mailbox that is closer to you.

Other Online Mailbox Options

There are other rental mailbox stores that offer you very basic online services as part of their traditional mailbox rentals.  With those services, you tend to pay more for both the mail forwarding and the physical mailbox itself that you will not need.  But if it fits you, perhaps this may be a better option.  Do the research and shop around.  You can always sign up for a month to see how it works before you fully relocate all your mail over.  This way, you can test out the services.  You can even sign up for more than one service at a time.  USPS does not restrict you on how many locations you can have to receive your own mail.

If you have tried any of online postal mailbox services, please comment on your experience and feedback.