Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Just because you are paying rent on the PO Box does not exempt you from the regulations.
Quote:
3.1.3 Use for Mail
Except under 3.2.11, Newspaper Receptacle, the receptacles described in 3.1.1 may be used only for matter bearing postage. Other than as permitted by 3.2.10, Delivery of Unstamped Newspapers, or 3.2.11, no part of a mail receptacle may be used to deliver any matter not bearing postage, including items or matter placed upon, supported by, attached to, hung from, or inserted into a mail receptacle. Any mailable matter not bearing postage and found as described above is subject to the same postage as would be paid if it were carried by mail.
Well, I'm one of those Alaska people who constantly gets nailed by businesses for "no shipping to PO Boxes" and "only ships to the Lower 48". I don't have a physical address because there aren't any streets here, and the "address" to the village post office is made up because the roads aren't official out here. UPS & FedEx dump their packages into USPS postal cartage in the city to be delivered by bush plane anyway, they don't actually deliver out here.
I can understand not shipping freight (too heavy/big to mail) stuff to a PO Box since freight normally has to be signed for and it's usually too large to be housed in a Post Office. But regular packages? Come on?! I mean, you can add tracking and delivery confirmation signatures to USPS Parcel Post, PriorityMail and ExpressMail.
What it really comes down to is the business not wanting to invest in the proper software to calculate postal and shipping rates to PO Boxes (including APO/FPO), Alaska & Hawaii; or they don't want to make an effort to use USPS rather than their contracted carrier. I understand that it might cost me a bit more for postage, and a significant amount more for freight, and I'm willing to pay that if it's reasonable and also willing to have s/h calculated separately by a sales agent rather than being able to checkout online... but to be flat-out refused or get quoted some ridiculous amount is just plain wrong.
Case in point. I recently ordered 2 cases of dry goods. The boxes are within the postal size regulations and weigh less than 10 lbs each. I entered the dimensions and weight into the USPS rate finder and got $20 per box Parcel Post (with tracking). They quoted me $110 shipping. I told them to ship it to my sister in WA (flat rate $5 in ConUS) and then sent her $40 to remail it for me. I would have gone to a competitor, except the prices were much higher and the competitor flat-out refused to ship to a PO in Alaska. If I could have found a competitor with reasonable pricing and postage, I would have gone with them.
I have developed working relationships with several companies who go out of their way to get me my stuff at the most reasonable rate and timeframe... and I use them as much as possible and recommend them highly because they have great customer service and really value their customer's satisfaction. And THAT is a rare commodity these days!
I don't get flat rate or free shipping only in the ConUS anyway... something in Seattle costs just as much to ship to Miami as it does to Fairbanks since the (postal) rates are based on distance.
Well, I'm one of those Alaska people who constantly gets nailed by businesses for "no shipping to PO Boxes" and "only ships to the Lower 48". I don't have a physical address because there aren't any streets here, and the "address" to the village post office is made up because the roads aren't official out here. UPS & FedEx dump their packages into USPS postal cartage in the city to be delivered by bush plane anyway, they don't actually deliver out here.
I can understand not shipping freight (too heavy/big to mail) stuff to a PO Box since freight normally has to be signed for and it's usually too large to be housed in a Post Office. But regular packages? Come on?! I mean, you can add tracking and delivery confirmation signatures to USPS Parcel Post, PriorityMail and ExpressMail.
What it really comes down to is the business not wanting to invest in the proper software to calculate postal and shipping rates to PO Boxes (including APO/FPO), Alaska & Hawaii; or they don't want to make an effort to use USPS rather than their contracted carrier. I understand that it might cost me a bit more for postage, and a significant amount more for freight, and I'm willing to pay that if it's reasonable and also willing to have s/h calculated separately by a sales agent rather than being able to checkout online... but to be flat-out refused or get quoted some ridiculous amount is just plain wrong.
Case in point. I recently ordered 2 cases of dry goods. The boxes are within the postal size regulations and weigh less than 10 lbs each. I entered the dimensions and weight into the USPS rate finder and got $20 per box Parcel Post (with tracking). They quoted me $110 shipping. I told them to ship it to my sister in WA (flat rate $5 in ConUS) and then sent her $40 to remail it for me. I would have gone to a competitor, except the prices were much higher and the competitor flat-out refused to ship to a PO in Alaska. If I could have found a competitor with reasonable pricing and postage, I would have gone with them.
I have developed working relationships with several companies who go out of their way to get me my stuff at the most reasonable rate and timeframe... and I use them as much as possible and recommend them highly because they have great customer service and really value their customer's satisfaction. And THAT is a rare commodity these days!
I don't get flat rate or free shipping only in the ConUS anyway... something in Seattle costs just as much to ship to Miami as it does to Fairbanks since the (postal) rates are based on distance.
this makes sense--i too have p.o. box due to the 2 drug addicts living on either side(police have yet to deal with them--we need to see them taking things)
now some hospitals will not send medical reports to a p.o. box---no reason given----so i drive to med records to get emin person---cannot figure this out as the post office will keep large packages for you in their back area
My postmistress informed me that you can have most anything delivered to your post office box- you can have any street address listed- just make sure you use your (personal) ZIP+4 code and it will be sent to your box (or you will get a nifty yellow slip because it doesn't actually fit in your box!). If you don't know what your ZIP+4 code *IS*.. ask your postmaster/mistress.
If something can be mailed (per postal regulations) then, legally, it can be delivered to a post office box with ZIP+4 (FYI: the +4 is normally the box number)... BUT that doesn't mean that a supplier will mail it to you there.
In previous lives, I worked in shipping & receiving and I know that the non-USPS carriers often make nifty discount deals with suppliers and part of that contract for discount rates is that they agree not to use USPS (or any other carrier). Of course, those other carriers won't deliver to anything but a verifiable physical address... so that pretty much leaves PO Box holders in the lurch. Make a buck & save a buck, screw customer service
The reason a company will not ship to a Post Office box is that is their policy. Don't like it, don't buy from them.
I want to correct a bit of information twisting. The USPS will not accept packages from competitors (UPS, FedEX) unless USPS postage for that package has been paid to USPS. That does not mean they don't accept packages at all, it means it must have paid the USPS charges. Get use to the term 'Last Mile Delivery'. This is where a package delivery company picks up a package from a shipper; transport it from one area to another; but hands off the 'last mile" delivery to the US Post Office. It could be at your house, at a Post Office Box, a private mailbox, or any address where USPS delivers.
Since there is no real limits on package shipments due to these inter-carrier agreements, the reason a shipper refuses to ship to a P.O. Box has nothing to do with the ability to ship to a P.O. Box. Whatever the reason, it’s a business decision, not a logistical issue.
I don't get flat rate or free shipping only in the ConUS anyway... something in Seattle costs just as much to ship to Miami as it does to Fairbanks since the (postal) rates are based on distance.
Flat rate USPS does apply to HI and AK. I just shipped several boxes to each state for the same price as the rest of the states.
Most of the time, the objection is that the seller only ships UPS, FedEx, etc., and those companies don't, as a rule, deliver to PO Boxes. So you would think that when ordering from a company that ships UPS or FedEx, you would just give them your home address, instead of the PO Box, right? Wrong! Where I live, half the time, UPS and FedEx end up handing off their packages to the USPS for delivery anyway (a system called "SmartPost"). There's never really any way to tell if they will use SmartPost or not - sometimes packages are delivered directly to my door, sometimes they are relayed to my local Post Office. But if they end up at the Post Office and I have given the seller my home address, the package gets returned, because the USPS doesn't do home delivery. Since there's no consistency, introducing SmartPost only made the problem worse.
Most of the time, I have found I can get around the problem by entering the first line of my shipping address as my street address, then the second line as my PO Box. That way, if it ends up going regular UPS or FedEx, they'll see the street address and ignore the PO Box, and if it ends up at the Post Office, they'll see the PO Box and ignore the street address. I'll have to try the zip+4 trick sometime too though...
Flat rate USPS does apply to HI and AK. I just shipped several boxes to each state for the same price as the rest of the states.
Yes, USPS flat-rate is the same price regardless of where you're mailing it to.
I worked with a lovely gent who went out of his way to package one of my large orders into USPS flat-rate boxes to save me on shipping. He apologized profusely for the one item that he couldn't make fit into one... I was just happy that he was willing to ship USPS, the lower cost flat-rate boxes were just an added bonus that I greatly appreciated. I certainly wasn't upset that I had to spend $5 more on that one box when he'd already saved me $100!
Unfortunately, most online retailers offer "flat-rate" or "free" shipping but only within ConUs because they use a private carrier and have worked out some sort of volume discount with them (or eat the cost of s/h as a loss leader for higher sales). If you shipped with those carriers directly, price is by distance... I know this because I shipped an identical item from Seattle to Austin and Seattle to Fairbanks, both roughly 2100 miles, and it cost me the same.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
UPS/FedEx SmartPost
