For the first time here, I got a request and accepted it, only to find that it needs to be shipped to a PO box. Is this secure? Or should I request a cancel?
As someone who receives his mail at his own PO Box, it is safer than shipping to someone's house. :)
I just want to make sure I understand the query. You're wondering if a locked box, inside an actual post office, is safe in comparison to a small aluminum box on the side of the street that anyone and their mother could just walk up to and take the contents of?
I would, personally, be just fine with sending to a PO Box.
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mafafu:
I wouldn't say it's dumb. There are plenty of vendors out there that won't ship to PO boxes due to not being able to track the identity of person.
In any case, I wouldn't worry too much about shipping to a PO box if the trader's history is reputable.
kwaz28: mafafu: I wouldn't say it's dumb. There are plenty of vendors out there that won't ship to PO boxes due to not being able to track the identity of person. In any case, I wouldn't worry too much about shipping to a PO box if the trader's history is reputable.
I would say they are dumb too. My town does not offer mail delivery, but we get a free PO Box. Anything that comes via USPS to me HAS to come to the PO Box or it will get returned to sender.
I didn't realize that there were towns that don't provide home delivery.
What do you do when an item cannot be shipped to a PO box?
kwaz28: I didn't realize that there were towns that don't provide home delivery. What do you do when an item cannot be shipped to a PO box?
Mail will always ship to PO Box. Parcels (usually courier services - Fedex, UPS, DHL) do not deliver to PO Boxes but will still deliver to street addresses.
I mean, people that own PO Boxes still have addresses on their houses, they don't have blank doors ;)
Back to original question - it's hard to hide identity with a PO Box. The forms to get one are fairly thorough - in case of a legal dispute (maybe not on the level of a 50$ game though), the information on the owner is available. It's not a Swiss bank account (and even those now are hard to hide id)!
Vendors don't ship to P.O. Boxes if they use UPS. UPS does not deliver to P.O. Boxes.
There is one issue where safety is concerned, but I wouldn't let it stop you from shipping. Some post offices have a few large compartments for packages that don't fit in the smaller boxes. These boxes are shared by multiple box renters, so theoretically, someone could open the door, retrieve their package, and then decide to take all the others as well.
I had a P.O. Box for six months last year when someone started stealing all the packages in my apartment building. I only had one issue with a package (a game from Goozex, actually), and it ended up being lost by the post office.
As long as you use delivery confirmation, if the game shows up at the PO Box, the Goozex Guarantee ensures that you will get your points. Nothing to fear.
