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FYI if you remove the mailbox from your residence, the USPS will silently return every attempted delivery to the sender. You can then get a PO BOX, setup your
by pengaru 6y ago
FYI if you remove the mailbox from your residence, the USPS will silently return every attempted delivery to the sender.
You can then get a PO BOX, setup your important things like property taxes/dmv/utilities/banks with it as the mailing address, and carry on supplying your residence as your physical address to whoever appropriately asks without even lying.
Most places are just assuming your physical address receives mail and send unsolicited spam to it. Critical services must support a mailing address distinct from a residence address, as it's common for those living at the end of a dirt road without mail service; a perfectly legal way to live.
I currently do this, and my PO BOX receives practically zero mail, and I must say it's a glorious signal:noise ratio.
There are some frustrations though, some places do refuse to send to a PO BOX, and some shippers which claim to use FedEx or UPS will then go on to use USPS and your purchase doesn't arrive. Non-USPS deliveries will still arrive at the physical address without a mailbox, but USPS deliveries will not - those must go to the PO BOX. YMMV
- MaxBarraclough 6y agoHow easy is it to cancel the PO box and get a new one with a new address?
- dogma1138 6y agoAt least in the UK it’s very easy to it’s costly if you use the Royal Mail one there are others but I wouldn’t trust them all the ones I’ve seen look rather dodgy. https://www.royalmail.com/receiving/po-box https://www.royalmail.com/receiving/po-box
- pengaru 6y agoTrivial, and you must pay to renew it in either 6/12mo intervals. The PO BOX number will be reclaimed automatically if you fail to pay.
- MaxBarraclough 6y ago> The PO BOX number will be reclaimed automatically if you fail to pay. Does that mean that if you get a 'new' PO box, you get spam right out of the gate due to the previous owners?
- pengaru 6y agoThat hasn't been my experience, but maybe it's possible? You could switch to a different box if you got unlucky, my local postmaster is super friendly and helpful FWIW.
- bsder 6y ago> You can then get a PO BOX, setup your important things like property taxes/dmv/utilities/banks with it as the mailing address Nope. A whole lot of official stuff (like drivers licenses and bank accounts) will now refuse PO Boxes. I believe this stems from the RealID crap.
- pengaru 6y agoBanks haven't been an insurmountable problem for me, but there's definitely varying degrees of friction. Having an official current property tax document for the residence showing the PO BOX mailing address it was sent to seems to help, but it does require in-person time-wasting to navigate the barriers. I assume it's a real PITA or impossible if you just do a web/app kind of signup, especially with a huge bank. My local small rural bank didn't even bat an eye to separate mailing address and resident address, happily sending the bank card to the PO BOX, but they serve a rural community of many people living at the end of dirt roads and the account was opened in-person. I did have a problem with E*Trade because they partner with a banking provider. Despite having the PO BOX as the mailing address, their bank insisted on sending the debit card to the residence address. This was resolved by them sending it via FedEx, no mailbox required, still fulfilled their requirement of confirming the card goes to the residence on file, done. I haven't had to get a new license in this mode yet, but the vehicle registration has all been frictionless with separate fields for residence and mailing addresses. Maybe it will be a mess for the DL, but I'm pretty confident there's a way. Even retirees who sold their home and are living exclusively in their RV have an escape hatch at the DMV AIUI.