If you’ve been growing frustrated with traditional mailbox options from the US Postal Service, exhausted with their limitations, price hikes, and lackluster customer service and support, keep on reading. The odds are pretty good you started to look into other mailbox solutions for your home or small business. And while there are a number of different options to pick and choose from today, UPS mailbox solutions are among some of the most popular on the market right now – and it’s easy to understand why that is.

Below we dig a little bit deeper into everything you need to know on:

• How to get a mailbox address
• How to determine what is the right UPS mailbox for you
• The benefits UPS mailbox options have to offer
• Additional information to help with your research & due diligence 

Shall we get right into it? Let’s go!

UPS Mailbox Size Determines Everything

Right out of the gate, the very first thing you’re going to want to consider when searching for a UPS mailbox solution, is the size of the mailbox you are looking to lease. For the most part, your UPS mailbox decision is going to be heavily determined by the size of the mailbox you are after. The location you are interested in renting a mailbox from, may only have a handful of different box sizes available. Since one of the most important factors that determine the price of your mailbox, is the size of the actual mailbox, being limited with a small variety of boxes will also limit the pricing options available to you. You want to ensure  you are getting a mailbox to accommodate everything you anticipate on receiving, with zero headache or hassle whatsoever. So doing proper due diligence with your local UPS store, is always the best way to go when scouting for the best UPS mailbox.

As a general rule of thumb, all UPS Mailbox locations provide three different sizes:

• Small boxes (perfect for individuals,)
• Medium boxes (ideally suited for individuals, larger households, and small businesses,)
• Large boxes (usually set up for small to medium-sized businesses with large mail volumes.)

Your local UPS Mailbox location will be able to help you figure out which box makes the most sense for your needs and budget, if you’re still having a tough time settling on a box size. It’s not a bad idea to visit the UPS store in person, before you make a commitment. This will ensure you know exactly what you are getting into.

How Long Will You Be Renting Your UPS Mailbox For?

The next big piece of the puzzle that you’re going to want to figure out when it comes to getting a UPS mailbox is determining how long you want your lease to run. UPS locations offer mailbox rentals in three-month, six-month, and 12 month terms. You may be able to come to an arrangement for a more custom duration, depending on your specific needs and budget. You’ll find that a lot of UPS mailbox services are very flexible with the kind of leases that they provide, especially if you are giving their service a “trial run” and aren’t comfortable with committing to long-term agreements, just yet.

At the same time, you’ll be able to save a lot more money on your UPS mailbox lease when you extended the length of it & sign up for a longer term. Those that have 12 month leases (or longer) almost universally save more money than those on shorter-term agreements. That’s definitely something to consider if you want your new UPS mailbox address to be permanent or (at least) semi-permanent, going forward.

Find a Local UPS Store Near You

It’s obviously a good idea to make sure that the local UPS store, is conveniently located in your side of town. Most UPS stores do have these kinds of facilities ready to sign up for, though not all of them are going to have the mailbox size you are interested in. It is best to communicate with the local store you are interested getting a box in, and they should be able to accommodate you. You can always jump online and go to the UPS Store Locator page to find the nearest UPS mailbox location in your community. It’s not at all uncommon to have a couple of different options to pick and choose from (which definitely increases your odds of finding the mailbox size you’re after), and you’ll want to find one you can commute to every so often to pickup packages & mail.

UPS Mailbox ID Requirements

It’s important that you bring two independent forms of identification; one of the ID’s must be a photo ID. A driver’s license and any other form of identification you have handy – including bills, credit card statements, bank statements, etc. – will help you streamline the sign-up process, significantly. As always, if you have any questions or concerns about whether an ID you hold on hand will cover you or not, it is best to communicate with them in advance. That will save you a trip to the UPS store, and any easy checkout experience.

UPS Mailbox Agreement

Each individual store will have their own unique agreement that you’ll need to read carefully. Generally speaking however, all of them follow the same general outline. All the same, it’s not a bad idea to request a copy of the agreement in advance. Take it home, read it over from start to finish, and only sign if you’re comfortable with that you see. Keep in mind that different stores, will have different pricing setups as well as different deposit and fee schedules. This is something we will dig a bit deeper into later in this article. 

Advantages To Registering A UPS Mailbox

Get a Real, Physical Address

One of the biggest benefits you’ll get out of signing up for a UPS mailbox is getting rid of – once and for all – the need to put down a PO Box, as your mailing address. PO Box addresses can sometimes be a nightmare to deal with, especially when you are having products shipped to your PO Box. Anybody who has done a decent amount of online shopping – especially from e-commerce platforms like Amazon –  knows that PO Box addresses can wreak havoc on shipping and delivery times. Sometimes the order delays can last for several days when using a PO Box (which would not be the case with the use of a physical address.)

On top of that, if you are running a business out of your home, you will be able to add an extra layer of legitimacy & credibility by using a physical mailing address (as opposed to a PO Box.) Combine that with the privacy and security perks that come with distancing your business from your residence and soon you realize how moving forward with a UPS Mailbox becomes a lot better of an option, compared to using a traditional USPS PO Box.

Full Service UPS Package Delivery

The United States Postal Service (generally) will flat out refuse packages from third-party carriers like UPS, FedEx and DHL if they aren’t contracted for “last mile” services. That makes getting your packages at a traditional PO Box a real pain. Because UPS is a full-service shipping and delivery company you won’t ever have to worry about those issues again. Not only will UPS streamline the shipping and delivery of products and merchandise through UPS themselves to your new mailbox, but they are also going to accept deliveries from all other shipping carriers and services as well – without exceptions.

UPS Security & Privacy

The privacy and anonymity you get with a UPS mailbox is something that you can’t get with PO Boxes, but you also get an extra layer of safety and security as well. Unlike the post office, when you’ll have to visit during normal business hours, you will have 24/7 access to your UPS mailbox whenever you need to retrieve packages or mail. All of the items that you’ve ordered are going to be stored securely and safely in your box or a shipping locker indoors – not left out on the porch or the front doorstep. Additionally, you won’t have to worry about mail piling up in front of your door when you are away for a couple of days (letting folks know you aren’t home inadvertently).

Flexible UPS Mailbox Solutions

Of course, UPS mailbox solutions also provide a bunch of other personalized mailbox services that the USPS has not – and may never – provide themselves. On top of the 24/7 secured access we just mentioned you’ll also be able to take advantage of Mail Check services, mail receipt notifications & mobile texting to alert you when new items hit your mailbox. The ability to know exactly when mail has arrived at your UPS mailbox (and the opportunity to have that mail pre-screened and photographed for you so that you know whether or not it’s worth driving to the UPS store to get your mail and packages) is a major convenience, and one that just makes sense in today’s hyper connected world. You’ll also have the opportunity to call the UPS store directly and ask them if you have mail, receiving friendly confirmation right away. 

UPS Store Box Prices

Before we get into specific pricing details regarding UPS mailbox services it’s important to make one critical distinction. Each individual UPS store is owned and operated independently and as a franchisee. That means rental costs and leasing fees for all mailbox services are going to differ from one location to the next. As a general rule, though, the services all fall under the same range of prices – and that’s what we highlight below. UPS Mailbox prices depend primarily on the size of the box you are looking to register. The available box sizes, usually break down to small, medium & large. Below you will find the pricing details for each UPS mailbox size you are interested in.

Small UPS Box

Small UPS mailboxes cost between $10 and $30 a month. Typically, you will find mailboxes at the range of $10 – $15 per month, but they can some times reach up to $30, depending on the location.

Medium UPS Box

Medium size UPS mailboxes will cost between $20 and $40 a month. These boxes are a bit larger, can handle a little more mail flow on a day-to-day basis, and are ideally suited for those that do a lot of online shopping and anticipate to receive a lot of packages. 

Large UPS Box

Large UPS mailboxes cost between $30 and $50 per month. These are the kinds of mailboxes you want to get if you are using them for a commercial operation and especially if you anticipate receiving larger packages.

Lease Agreement Duration

Just like pricing differs from each individual UPS Mailbox Store location, lease terms and agreements are going to differ as well. Generally though, you can expect lease terms to range from three months and up to twelve months. The longer your lease agreement, the larger the discount you get.

UPS Mailbox Deposit and Fees

Almost all UPS mailbox agreements are going to include a 100% nonrefundable fee of between $10 and $15 per key. This key isn’t just going to give you access to the mailbox itself, but it’s also going to give you access to the mailbox center 24/7 year -round. Replacement keys are available if you lose your key, though you’ll have to pay an additional nonrefundable fee. A lot of locations that offer UPS mailbox services will sometimes charge an overflow fee of three dollars, if excessive amounts of mail begin to pile up at your mailbox or if large packages are left at the location for extended periods of time. Due to the instant notifications & alerts you receive with the arrival of a new piece of mail, this shouldn’t be a big problem and is something that can easily be avoided.

Here is guide with a full list of UPS fees & rates.

Virtual Mailbox VS UPS Store

Of course, as much as UPS Mailbox services are a great convenience and better alternative to USPS, they do come with some limitations. Typically, people that are not happy with the USPS, will sign up with either the UPS or some Virtual Mailbox service. Some of the main reasons why a virtual mailbox makes more sense than a physical mailbox, can be found here. In short, virtual mailbox will allow you to manage all mail online from your desktop or mobile device, without the need to visit a physical location.

Other perks they come with, are free check deposits (where they deposit a bank check on your behalf,) more favorable mail storage terms & discounted shipping. In fact, due to the volume of mail these platforms process, you can usually get up to 80% off of typical UPS shipping rates. Use a shipping calculator, and you will be able to see what a typical shipping would cost with & without the use of a Virtual Mailbox platform. Virtual Mailboxes are usually favored over physical UPS mailboxes, due to lower fees & more streamlined mail management that can be done online.

US Global Mail is privileged to be the Virtual Mailboxes, since 1999. For more details, click here.