Mail Redirection to PO BOX or other address

Jello_3

Hi

I have set up a small mail order business, but I don't like post coming to my address simply as unwanted callers etc can be a problem, and my wife is on her own in the day.

I was thinking of a post office box number, but this is costly and hassle at £56 plus £56 for delivery and people can be put off by a PO BOX number.

Does anyone know a CHEAP or free redirection service? I managed to get my 0845 number free from http://www.theuknumbershop.co.uk/

Thanks

Encantador

.... that a PO box isn`t totally secret. You have to supply the PO with a real addres to get one and if asked they have to give anyone that asks your address.
So I could ring your local depot, give them your box no and they are obliged to give me the address that was used by the owner of the box (usually your HA), for some obscure reason, they don`t have to give me your name, just your address.

Having said that, most people don`t know that so wouldn`t ask.

Savvy_Sue

Jello wrote:

I was thinking of a post office box number, but this is costly and hassle at £56 plus £56 for delivery and people can be put off by a PO BOX number.

Also be aware that you have to go and pick your post up from the PO, which if it's a mail order business you'd need to do on a very regular basis. Oh I've just seen you can have it delivered if you pay twice as much, silly me ...

Encantador wrote:

.... that a PO box isn`t totally secret. You have to supply the PO with a real addres to get one and if asked they have to give anyone that asks your address.

Now I never knew that, and I used to work from someone's home and go and pick up the post FROM a PO address!

Anyway, back to the original question. You may be able to find a 'private' PO box kind of service, I know of one near me although I don't know that it would be any cheaper than PO, but it may give more flexibility - PO opening hours appear to be arbitrarily short with a long lunch hour round here! Type Mailboxes into google, limit it to UK, and then think how to 'search within results'. There are a couple of the kind of service you need in righthand links - including the one I know about - and maybe another couple near the top of the first page, if that helps.

Another way round the problem of NOT giving your home address out freely might be to use the PO Box or similar, but also give the registered address of the company. I don't know how this works for sole traders, probably doesn't, but I work for a charity which is also a ltd company, and our office address is in big writing at the top of the headed paper, and the registered office - our accountants - is in little writing at the bottom. If you have an accountant, might be worth talking to him: if the PO Box is writ large, the amount of post going to him for forwarding to you should be minimal.

Hope I'm making sense, it's late, I'm tired, sorry ...

Jello_3

Hi thanks for reply, not too bothered about the fact that people can find out address from PO Box, it is more I want a fowarding address that looks more professional and keeps people away from my home if they live local etc.

zcaprd7

Try the Royal Mail's "freepost" license - it costs about £120 a year and you get a license to use "FREEPOST YOUR COMPANY NAME" - that's all that needs to be put on the envelope and it will get sent to a specified address i.e. your home address.

You have to pay the postage plus a bit more, but it looks professional and you can put it on all your reply envelopes.

For a phone number have a look at https://www.alldaypa.com - you can get an 0845 number or a geographic number (e.g. 0207/8) - then set it up for the pa to take the callers number because you are busy and you'll call them back. They the send the caller's number by email to you so you can call back from home.

You are charged by the minute but as they're not on the phone for long its a cheap way of looking like you have an office if you don't receive many calls? (if you go for alldaypa give me a personal message, I think there is a referall bonus?).

ReductionQueen

You don't say which city you are in, but MBE, Mail Boxes Ect, are all over the UK and are run in conjunction with FedEx. They offer private box numbers, depending on what you want and where the address is they can be as little as £150 a year (maybe less outside London). You can pick up your mail either when the shop is open (they are usually with a copy shop and FedEx collection point), or gain access to your mailbox outside hours with a swipe card. The only thing is, if you are getting large parcels they may not fit in a PO Box style box and you would have to collect in shop hours. The best bit is that you call you box whatever you like - suite, room, unit, chambers even flat, the mail will always goes to your box. I think that you can have post forwarded, but you have to give a deposit and choose at what interval you get it, ie daily, weekly, monthly or even quarterly. Hope this helps.

Jello_3

Hi

Yes MBE is a very good option, but still a little expensive for the sort of revenue I bring in.

Does anyone know of a lot cheaper forwarding service or mailbox?

Thanks

Patr100

You are not lilkely to get a cheaper service than those suggested but try looking in your local LOOT for Accomodation Address Services -

ReductionQueen

Very true, I used to have an accomodation address in North London, it was only £65 a year plus redirection of another £60 on deposit It pays to shop around!