To many consumers, post office boxes have long been associated with those who had something to hide. But they are acquiring a newfound respectability thanks to a business that is quietly proliferating: commercial mail receiving agencies.
These enterprises, which originated in Orange County, Calif., about a decade ago, were started as an alternative to the U.S. Postal Service, said James Baer, executive director of the Association of Commercial Mail Receiving Agencies, based in Albuquerque, N.M.
”Our businesses are patronized because there appear to be many people who don`t find the service at the post office appropriate,” Baer said. ”At some post offices you have to wait six months or longer to rent a mailbox and some have no facilities. There are long lines and surly clerks. If this didn`t exist, our businesses wouldn`t exist. When you`re a private activity, there`s a greater incentive to be courteous and pleasant.”
Baer estimates there are now about 3,500 mail receiving agencies nationwide and about 450 are members of the association.
These businesses all begin by offering mailbox rentals, he said.
”There`s an element of the population that is nervous about corresponding with a post office box. Mail receiving agencies offer their customers a prestigious street address, which the post office doesn`t do, and the customer can use the post office box number as a suite or room number.”
”Many agencies also offer 24-hour access to the mail, which the post office generally doesn`t have,” Baer continued. ”A commercial mail receiver can also sign for packages. If a package is delivered to your box at the post office, all you`ll get is a card notifying you of delivery. They can`t sign for packages.”
However, the U.S. Postal Service requires every customer using a commercial receiving agency to complete an application for delivery of mail through an agent. ”The form frees the post office of any responsibility or liability for the mail,” said Debra Hawkins, a communications specialist in the Chicago division of the U.S. Postal Service.
Who uses commercial mail receivers? According to Baer, it`s typically small businesses, people who are constantly on the road such as manufacturers representatives and salespeople, and private organizations.
Yet a commercial mail receiving agency quickly discovers that it must offer more than just this service if it wants to survive, Baer said. The agencies provide services that include typing and printing business cards and electronic facsimile transfer. In most instances mail receiving accounts for only 10 percent of an agency`s business.
Take the case of American Business Center, 931 S. Roselle Rd., Schaumburg. When Norma Archbold started her venture a year ago she thought that ”all you had to do was put the mail in the box and make a fortune.” She quickly realized she had to expand her operation if she wanted to mark her first anniversary. She now has a variety of services, including bulk mailing, shipping, labeling, audio-cassette tape duplication, photocopying, notarizing and passport pictures.
Other commercial mail receivers, like Elmhurst Mailbox Center, 107 E. Vallette, Elmhurst, not only receive mail and ship packages but offer an answering and message service, and sell stamps and packaging materials. ”We do many little things for our customers,” said owner Dorothy Lang. ”People with a mailbox can call in and find out if they`ve gotten any mail. We package their parcel free if they`ve purchased our materials and we`ll set up a tax receipt folder for them and keep it until tax time rolls around.”
Conversely, mail receiving comprises about 90 percent of the business at Unipost Place, 54 W. Randolph St., according to owner Robert Williams, who started the venture 10 years ago. ”There are a lot of aspects to mail receiving. I not only receive mail but I do a lot of mail forwarding and remailing. Many foreign companies want a U.S. address. So I forward mail to places like Canada, Germany, Hong Kong and Guatemala. One person has me open their mail and I have to throw out all the advertising, except at
Christmastime, before I forward it. Other people may want a letter sent postmarked from Chicago and I can take care of that, too.”
Fees vary for each service a commercial mail receiving agency provides. For example, a small post office box may cost $9 a month or more. To obtain 24-hour access to your mail, you may pay a monthly key deposit ranging from $3 to $10. Most commercial mail receiving agencies charge a $1 to $3 fee to ship a package by United Parcel Service, depending upon the shipping cost of the package.
”The nuisance of driving and then waiting in line costs more than the service charge,” said Dee Cunningham, owner of The Letter Box, 1430 Miner St., Des Plaines.
Consumers like Mary Margaret Reuther, director of sales and marketing for Skius Inc., Elmhurst, opt for a commercial mail receiving agency to save time. ”It`s a matter of convenience. I go two blocks to get our mail at the Elmhurst Mailbox Center, as opposed to the post office, which is 1 to 1 1/2 miles away. I can also have meter mailings done for me and do my UPS and Federal Express mailing there without running all over kingdom come.”
Chip Lindt of Encircle Corp., Schaumburg, uses the American Business Center because it provides a myriad of services. ”I`m looking for someone to package for me in a timely fashion. The post office won`t package anything for you. Norma Archbold will package difficult pieces for us and then send them UPS. We don`t use UPS consistently enough to have them stop here daily.”
There`s also money to be saved by using a service like the American Business Center, said Jim Mueller of Image Innovations Photography, Schaumburg. ”You save money by sending parcels UPS compared to the post office. We`d also have to travel a great distance to send a package UPS. This saves time all around.”
While commercial mail receiving agencies provide many of the same services as the U.S. Postal Service, these businesses cannot deliver, insure or register mail, the Postal Service`s Hawkins said.
And the U.S. Postal Service does view these businesses as competition and is trying to be more responsive to the needs of its customers, said Hawkins, adding:
”We do have a three- to six-month waiting list for post office boxes at some post offices. The smallest size, 4 X 6, is the one that`s in demand. It costs $11 to rent it for six months. To alleviate the problem we have 30 existing detached post office box units in Chicago and we`re in the process of building three more. We`ve also located sites for two more in the next year, where that service is needed.
”We also have automated our window services by putting in computer terminals which make lines shorter, and there`s less chance of errors.”
But, Baer believes that no matter what the U.S. Postal Service does, the number of commercial mail receiving agencies will double during the next three years.
