Saint Brendan’s Isle: Another family business that ‘gets’ travelers is popularly known simply as SBI. Started by liveaboards at Shilshole Bay Marina to meet the need they saw around them, it ticks all our boxes, offers a good value, the humans behind it are awesome: they really understand the cruiser market. In addition to factors above, services you may want – or want to know the cost for – include an address in the state of your choice (vs, the services HQ), grace period for free mail storage, ability to re-package when forwarding to reduce cost, and secure shredding.ĭockside Mail: We’ve used this Seattle-based service for several years now. Mail forwarding costs can vary meaningfully: if you anticipate this, anticipate the fees! The best mail servicesĮxpanding and revisiting the original list. Global Entry cards for travel back to the USA Replacement bank cards (typically not sent internationally by banks) Retirement papers that needed originals with signatures But our friends on Majestic provided several recent examples of how important VMS forwarding has been for them while cruising in the Caribbean: We have never needed to have mail forwarded, so I mostly ignored it in the 2017 post. One of the great things of a VMS is your mail is scanned, so you can ‘receive’ it as a PDF. Pinky wrote up her experience SV Loka’s blog, too. Went home and signed up for Anytime Mailbox (owners had a slight preference based on their ability to help customers with payment info)Ĭame in a couple of days later with IDs to sign the USPS form and meet the rest of the staff ($0 since we signed paperwork in front of them) Went to the store to meet the owners and chat with them about which platform THEY like (this one did iPostal and Anytime Mailbox) If it was a big box store, I passed (just my personal preference) I googled the address and used street view to find out who exactly the business is. We recommend due diligence on the storefront, and one of member of our coaching community took it a step farther and outlined a great process. Staples feel like faceless chains to some, but they knowing the folks working at the mail service inside: this made it the right choice for Majestic. In Annapolis, the iPostal1 business (and Anytime Mailbox address) is run out of a Staples store. Since choosing a VMS is not just picking a plan/services/etc., it’s trusting your personal mail to other humans – don’t you think it might be nice to know more about them? Friends cruising the Caribbean on their St Francis 44, Majestic, use iPostal1 – one of the major virtual mailbox services. We learned this when picking up a parcel sent to an iPostal1 box we rented in Phoenix, and arrived at a small shop called …not iPostal1, but Biltmore Mailboxes Plus. The factor I had not considered before: what is the actual storefront for your virtual mailbox service? Outside a headquarters address, most brands/platforms are executed by a local business independent from the platform. Many are volume dependent ruthlessly cut your mail by ONLY sharing the new address where required. More than an annual fee consider add-on charges for bonus services. The baseline is simple: a VMS provides a digital scan of your mail (envelope exterior first, interior contents on request), then forwards or shreds it based on your wishes.Ĭost. Rarely does a VMS support residency, but most like to consolidate in particular state for convenience or personal reasons. Starting with the main features – the obvious ones? – to consider when choosing a virtual mailbox service (VMS), with some insight into how these work. Affiliate links have nothing to do with opinions expressed on the blog: see Values Statement. Don’t miss the mail service FAQ at the bottom!ĭisclaimer: some services provide an affiliate commission, which means if you click through here and sign up, I'll eventually get a little kickback. Services to consider include those in the USA, Canada, and select other countries. More importantly, there’s a key factor ( the key factor?) easily overlooked which picking ‘the best’ service for your needs. I have intended to update our guide to the best virtual mailbox services for a while: first, there are a number of market entrants since our 2017 summary. It’s been more than 15 years since Jamie and I received mail the conventional manner, to a fixed address we called home. Getting mail while cruising is a problem all cruisers need to address (groan…).
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