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I used to work for a company that did a similar thing to outbox, but differently. They took a picture of every piece of mail and then stored everything until c

I used to work for a company that did a similar thing to outbox, but differently. They took a picture of every piece of mail and then stored everything until customers placed shipping/scanning request via the web. I was still there when Outbox first launched. It was deduced that Outbox would have it rough due to privacy/security problems. It was for that reason my former employer never launched an auto-scan product to compete. It looks like a smart move, even today.

FelixP 13y ago
If you know something about the industry, could you recommend some good alternatives?
- msandford 13y ago
  Sure, happy to. First the incredibly biased part: I used to work at US Global Mail and I did most/all of the R&D/deployment to modernize their service offering. It now includes a picture of the important side/part of every item that arrives, mail/magazines/packages, whatever. Also a weight and pretty accurate dimensions. The tracking number is also recovered from barcodes on the package, if available. Then after every piece is entered into the database it's uniquely barcoded for internal tracking. Nothing is scanned or opened unless customers ask for it. That's for your privacy as well as liability for the business. Most of the customers get a big FedEx envelope or pouch full of still stamped and sealed regular envelopes (that goes a long way towards building trust) on a weekly/biweekly/monthly basis. You can setup automatic shipping or place requests manually depending on your needs. US Global Mail ships all over the place. Now the less biased part. Primary competitors are: outboxmail.com earthclassmail.com USA2Me.com myus.com bongous.com I'm sure there are others but those are the ones I was aware of when I was still in the industry. I would say that the primary thing to google if you're looking for that kind of service is "mail forwarding service" as a search for that turns up many of the competitors I listed and more. https://www.google.com/search?q=mail+forwarding+service https://www.google.com/search?q=mail+forwarding+service The real bummer about mail forwarding is that you need a Form 1583 either signed in front of one of the employees, or witnessed by a notary. It's a real pain but the USPS did it to prevent mail forwarding companies from being unwitting accessories to various kinds of fraud. That's about all I can think of but feel free to ask more questions. I'm happy to answer.

FelixP 13y ago

If you know something about the industry, could you recommend some good alternatives?

msandford 13y ago
Sure, happy to. First the incredibly biased part: I used to work at US Global Mail and I did most/all of the R&D/deployment to modernize their service offering. It now includes a picture of the important side/part of every item that arrives, mail/magazines/packages, whatever. Also a weight and pretty accurate dimensions. The tracking number is also recovered from barcodes on the package, if available. Then after every piece is entered into the database it's uniquely barcoded for internal tracking. Nothing is scanned or opened unless customers ask for it. That's for your privacy as well as liability for the business. Most of the customers get a big FedEx envelope or pouch full of still stamped and sealed regular envelopes (that goes a long way towards building trust) on a weekly/biweekly/monthly basis. You can setup automatic shipping or place requests manually depending on your needs. US Global Mail ships all over the place. Now the less biased part. Primary competitors are: outboxmail.com earthclassmail.com USA2Me.com myus.com bongous.com I'm sure there are others but those are the ones I was aware of when I was still in the industry. I would say that the primary thing to google if you're looking for that kind of service is "mail forwarding service" as a search for that turns up many of the competitors I listed and more. https://www.google.com/search?q=mail+forwarding+service https://www.google.com/search?q=mail+forwarding+service The real bummer about mail forwarding is that you need a Form 1583 either signed in front of one of the employees, or witnessed by a notary. It's a real pain but the USPS did it to prevent mail forwarding companies from being unwitting accessories to various kinds of fraud. That's about all I can think of but feel free to ask more questions. I'm happy to answer.