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There are several services that do this. 1. give you a mailbox 2. scan outside of all incoming mail 3. allow you to select which ones to open 4. scan the co

There are several services that do this. 1. give you a mailbox 2. scan outside of all incoming mail 3. allow you to select which ones to open 4. scan the contents 5. optionally forward items you need physical 6. dispose of everything else

sbierwagen 10y ago
Link?
- leecb 10y ago
  I'm currently a customer of https://www.usglobalmail.com https://www.usglobalmail.com , just one of many services like this. They scan mail, can throw it away for you, and can repack / reship packages.
  - disc 10y ago
    I've contemplated using a service like this to lighten the junk mail, but how do you 'shut off' mail service at your physical mailbox?
    - spike021 10y ago
      You probably can't, honestly. My apartment, on a weekly basis, gets mail to roughly 3-5 previous inhabitants. As in, exact same address, etc. Sometimes even bills from insurance companies or other important mail. I think when you move you're supposed to notify USPS to forward mail to your new address (probably also inform important mailers of the move as well) but from what I've seen they don't propagate the address changes very well. I mean, sure, those previous inhabitants may not have notified USPS at all, but I find that hard to believe.
      - thaumasiotes 10y ago
        > I think when you move you're supposed to notify USPS to forward mail to your new address > sure, those previous inhabitants may not have notified USPS at all, but I find that hard to believe I certainly wouldn't. Why would I notify the USPS that I moved? I would notify my contacts (or much more likely, they'd ask me for my address in the event they wanted to send me something). A delivery service is for delivering things to addresses, not to people.
        dragonwriter 10y ago
        > A delivery service is for delivering things to addresses, not to people. A delivery service is for delivering things to people; addresses are just a tool for locating the perosn you are trying to get the thing delivered to.
        thaumasiotes 10y ago
        Try getting them to deliver to a person using some other location than an address, such as "wherever he happens to be". It can't be their purpose to do something they're not able to do. If I have something mailed to me at my office, are you claiming the post office hasn't made a mistake when they deliver it to my home?
        dragonwriter 10y ago
        > Try getting them to deliver to a person using some other location than an address So, like, General Delivery? > If I have something mailed to me at my office, are you claiming the post office hasn't made a mistake when they deliver it to my home? There's a question of principal/agent there, so maybe, maybe not. OTOH, I'll maintain that the post office is not making a mistake when it keeps delivering my mail from my employer to me at my actual address, even though they keep sending it to an address which resembles mine only in that the street name and zip code are the same, and two of the four numbers in the street address they use also appear (in different positions) in my actual address. Which I suppose I should go talk to HR about again.
      - elliottcarlson 10y ago
        USPS only forwards the mail for one year after notification. After that any mail that is still marked for that address will be delivered there. Ideally you would have notified all relevant parties at that point. Also a lot of junk mail will be addressed to the name "or current resident"
        DashRattlesnake 10y ago
        However, the forwarding database is apparently pretty easy to get access to. Junk mailers will query it and update their list with your new address.
    - solotronics 10y ago
      place a sticker inside with someone elses name on it
    - ccrfg 10y ago
      By not having a physical mailbox. Nothing says that you have to have a mailbox, and without one the USPS won't deliver mail to your house. Also, I believe that they have some sort of permanent forward that the local postmaster can put in so that if you don't have a mailbox at home they'll send it to a PO box.
- saurik 10y ago
  I use https://www.earthclassmail.com/ https://www.earthclassmail.com/.
  - strictnein 10y ago
    The subject of Startup Junkies, season 1, a fairly interesting thing to watch. Not sure if there was a season 2.
    - ecmofficial 10y ago
      There wasn't! We've talked about doing a follow up as recently as last year. The company has gone through a lot of changes since then, for the better. We'll have some exciting announcements in the coming months as well.

sbierwagen 10y ago

Link?

leecb 10y ago
I'm currently a customer of https://www.usglobalmail.com https://www.usglobalmail.com , just one of many services like this. They scan mail, can throw it away for you, and can repack / reship packages.
- disc 10y ago
  I've contemplated using a service like this to lighten the junk mail, but how do you 'shut off' mail service at your physical mailbox?
  - spike021 10y ago
    You probably can't, honestly. My apartment, on a weekly basis, gets mail to roughly 3-5 previous inhabitants. As in, exact same address, etc. Sometimes even bills from insurance companies or other important mail. I think when you move you're supposed to notify USPS to forward mail to your new address (probably also inform important mailers of the move as well) but from what I've seen they don't propagate the address changes very well. I mean, sure, those previous inhabitants may not have notified USPS at all, but I find that hard to believe.
    - thaumasiotes 10y ago
      > I think when you move you're supposed to notify USPS to forward mail to your new address > sure, those previous inhabitants may not have notified USPS at all, but I find that hard to believe I certainly wouldn't. Why would I notify the USPS that I moved? I would notify my contacts (or much more likely, they'd ask me for my address in the event they wanted to send me something). A delivery service is for delivering things to addresses, not to people.
      - dragonwriter 10y ago
        > A delivery service is for delivering things to addresses, not to people. A delivery service is for delivering things to people; addresses are just a tool for locating the perosn you are trying to get the thing delivered to.
        thaumasiotes 10y ago
        Try getting them to deliver to a person using some other location than an address, such as "wherever he happens to be". It can't be their purpose to do something they're not able to do. If I have something mailed to me at my office, are you claiming the post office hasn't made a mistake when they deliver it to my home?
        dragonwriter 10y ago
        > Try getting them to deliver to a person using some other location than an address So, like, General Delivery? > If I have something mailed to me at my office, are you claiming the post office hasn't made a mistake when they deliver it to my home? There's a question of principal/agent there, so maybe, maybe not. OTOH, I'll maintain that the post office is not making a mistake when it keeps delivering my mail from my employer to me at my actual address, even though they keep sending it to an address which resembles mine only in that the street name and zip code are the same, and two of the four numbers in the street address they use also appear (in different positions) in my actual address. Which I suppose I should go talk to HR about again.
    - elliottcarlson 10y ago
      USPS only forwards the mail for one year after notification. After that any mail that is still marked for that address will be delivered there. Ideally you would have notified all relevant parties at that point. Also a lot of junk mail will be addressed to the name "or current resident"
      - DashRattlesnake 10y ago
        However, the forwarding database is apparently pretty easy to get access to. Junk mailers will query it and update their list with your new address.
  - solotronics 10y ago
    place a sticker inside with someone elses name on it
  - ccrfg 10y ago
    By not having a physical mailbox. Nothing says that you have to have a mailbox, and without one the USPS won't deliver mail to your house. Also, I believe that they have some sort of permanent forward that the local postmaster can put in so that if you don't have a mailbox at home they'll send it to a PO box.
saurik 10y ago
I use https://www.earthclassmail.com/ https://www.earthclassmail.com/.
- strictnein 10y ago
  The subject of Startup Junkies, season 1, a fairly interesting thing to watch. Not sure if there was a season 2.
  - ecmofficial 10y ago
    There wasn't! We've talked about doing a follow up as recently as last year. The company has gone through a lot of changes since then, for the better. We'll have some exciting announcements in the coming months as well.