why do some vendors not ship to PO Boxes?

the mail service in my remote area in the mountains sucks so i opened a PO BOX in the nearest major city and iv had drugs shipped there once so far (and waiting on a couple more orders). iv noticed on some vendors pages they specify that they will not ship to PO Boxes, why is that?


Comments


[24 Points] Theeconomist1:

Not sure why this post is getting the hate. He could ask the vendor and he may or may not get an answer or an accurate answer from the vendor. I think its a fair question b/c I'm sure the OP is curious if there is some sort of OpSec issue with PO Boxes perhaps. When I see something "out of the ordinary", such as some vendors to PO Boxes, I do wonder if there is a bigger reason for it that I should be aware of. Its a fair question IMO. He just opened a PO Box and probably just wants to cover his bases. Nothing wrong with that.

OP - Sorry, don't have an answer for you. I know there are even clearnet business who don't like sending to PO Boxes - but that may be b/c they are sending via FedEx/UPS, which wouldn't apply here (hopefully not!).


[12 Points] JoatMasterofNun:

So I don't do any of this but I find interest in following DNM stuff and also I've always been a fan of problem-solving and logistics. I'll give you the best I can figure.


  1. ALL PO boxes are open on the backside. This runs a possible problem if your package starts smelling.

  2. The difference between a drop at your house/mailbox - there's not a stranger more or less standing in the area of your package until you pick it up. Again, with the aforementioned issue of scent, it's just an unnecessary chance that some guy in the backroom catches a whiff and decides to pull a Sam Toucan and follow his nose.

  3. MOST PO boxes that you will have as an option are going to be the small ones. At my PO they are about 4-5" wide by 6" high. There isn't a lot of room. There are double and business sized ones but you're also paying much more for those if you're not getting allocated one due to living at an undeliverable address.

  4. Small PO box means a few things, either A. you have to specify max package dimensions to the vendor so it gets stuck in your box and not on a shelf. or B. It gets stuck on a shelf and you just get a slip in your box. So again, the possibility of smell, but now also, your package getting shuffled around more unnecessarily, the possibility that the guy who wrote your box number (290 for example) looks like a 270 to the guy working the counter when the owner of 270 checks for packages.

  5. Because when you did that, did you forward a bit of important mail such as a few bills or regular statements to that PO Box as well? A box that only ever gets the occasional package and minimal adverts and no formal mail will be odd to the observant mailroom worker. Guarantee there's at least one person working back there who has put in his or her time and may notice the odd mail type/volume that does and doesn't exist in your box.

  6. Mail Forwarding from the old box owner. I own a box because I live in bumfuck and the PO doesn't deliver house to house. Luckily, the person who had my box before me never put through mail forwarding when they left, which means I get their shit dumped in my box still. BUT, had they set it up, there's still the possibility that it's been empty for a month or two, and the backroom worker has been used to seeing POB #290 and setting it aside for forwarding labels. That's something you definitely DON'T want to happen.

  7. Overseas/Foreign shipments - Now the guy who works the front desk is usually the same. If you're getting packages on the regular from a foreign country you better have a good excuse. Oh and the "it's from my friend/brother/cousin in the military" isn't going to work. They'd have an APO address so that they still get domestic shipping rates. Don't be the guy who says "it's from my brother" and the return address is like Xie Shinxiang from Manchu, China. You're going to look like an idiot. You don't know who is nosey and who isn't.

  8. Most places I live, mailmen deliver to hundreds of houses and rarely see faces. They probably don't often think twice or remember what they delivered the day prior to any given address. That guy sitting at the counter every day you pick up a package, he's gonna be like your favorite barista at the coffee shop. He's going to see you, maybe remember you, maybe be a dick and judge -err "profile" you.

  9. Public address - you have less plausible deniability of a random package with YOUR NAME on it going to YOUR POB. Meanwhile, in general your physical address is public record and the whole, "it's not mine and maybe someone is trying to fuck with me" excuse might actually fly for a package to your home. I've had a POB for almost 2 years and I think I've gotten maybe one or two random adverts specifically addressed to me and not "Current Resident". Which is nice considering anything addressed to my actual address gets auto-forwarded to my POB.

  10. Chance of sender being identified - Off the top of my head, say your vendor ships in the same packages. Now you said a larger city, that's a worse option than a smaller town imo. Say Mr. Xie Shinxiang just shipped MDMA packages to 5 people in your city. Remember that guy at the counter who might be a nosey busybody? Yea, there's a chance he's the one that fetches the packages for all 5 of those people and sees the same name, from the same country, and starts to wonder. You're risking people from all over being centralized at that PO location. Meanwhile, your mailman more or less is only delivering down a few streets in the same location. Personally, I think it's a lot easier to figure if the 300 houses in your neighborhood on your mailman's route are also buying off DNMs that wonder how many of countless thousands in a city area might have a POB at the same location doing exactly what you're doing. Just to point out in your own words, "my mail service sucks, so I went to the nearest major city". Off chance, you think you're the only one that might have had that idea?

Those are just my thoughts and opinions from a casual observer's standpoint. Think about them.


[11 Points] Zykium:

If they bring in a dog for another suspicious package it may end up hitting on your PO Box.

This is just a theory.


[4 Points] None:

I had a PO box or almost a year. Never had any issues with a vendor not wanting to send them to a PO box (ALSO I NEVER FE'd). Might have had to do with my good stats... if you are new I could see you having some issues.


[2 Points] el_kid:

If I have a PO BOX and my order is tracked with signature required, do I still need to sign for it?


[2 Points] LongHairBri:

if you were LE doing controlled buys, wouldn't it make sense to assign a different PO Box for each vendor targeted? tying each package to each order while making 50 purchases w/o 50 addresses?? Makes sense to me!


[1 Points] Ketadream:

When I saw this post I personally thought maybe that is where law enforcement would buy packs and ship them to. It makes sense, they are not going to have the drugs shipped to the station, and I highly doubt they have the balls to send the drugs to their own houses, so that leaves P.O. boxes or abandoned houses if they could somehow do that.


[1 Points] duppycon:

as someone who used to vend alot, what i gathered is that it stems from the worry that its a LEO placing orders to profile that vendor. Doesnt make MUCH sense to me because with all the houses they seize its not like they couldn't use one of those if they really wanted, but do read high profile vendor busts, namely MDpro, I believe theres a whole article from the DEA agents perspective, on how he spends time on DNM making orders to his PO Box to profile vendors.

if youre worried about smell in the PO than you are a shitty vendor who cant package things correctly and shouldnt be sending drugs to anyone. If it smells inside a store, its going to smell at a sorting facility. DERP.

if youre worried about honest mix ups - dont use the United States Postal Service LOL!, Seriously though, PO Box or not, at one point in time, your mail WILL get fucked up. Welcome to Democracy bitches.

so the whole "NO PO BOX" doesnt make sense to me.


[0 Points] None:

I think the answer it pretty simple: PO Boxes are extremely easy to open and I think fresh boxes are under a slightly tighter watch than, say, a residence.


[0 Points] throwaway1882072:

I have often wondered this as well. Unfortunately all the replies so far are speculation. I wish a vendor would hop on and give his actual reasoning.


[-6 Points] None:

My guess would be this:

If you ship it to your house, you can just say "nope not me, I didn't order, someones been stealing my mail kinda makes sense now." Whereas with a PO Box you opened it for a reason, and if it is a CD you can't really just say "I didn't order that, what? no..." No, no court would believe you and you would do time. It's just to make things more safe for the buyer.

Hope I wrote that understandingly.


[-10 Points] None:

[deleted]


[-27 Points] Dutchcrackie:

Maybe it's a good idea to ask those vendors who aren't willen to ship to PO boxes. How could we know why they wouldn't do that ? To be honest, your question is retarded.

Every vendor has their own policy, they run their business the way they think is the best for everyone. If they think it's not a good idea to ship to PO boxes you should ask them why they aren't willing to ship to a PO Box.

You're asking this question to the wrong people, ask the vendors you would like to order from why they aren' willing to ship to PO boxes.