Silk Road forums
Discussion => Shipping => Topic started by: SmokesHisBroccoli on July 16, 2013, 06:41 pm
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Does anyone have any experience with a PO Box at a USPS that allows 24 hours access? How exactly does that work? More specifically I'm trying to narrow down which size box would be needed in order to receive packages after business hours.
I read somewhere on another thread that if the package doesn't fit in your box you'll find a key in your box to open a larger box with the package in it? Or would you have to go back during normal business hours and go to the window to claim an over sized package? If the former is true, it seems it would be best to just order the smallest sized box. If the later is true, it seems it would be best to order the largest sized box in order to be able to ensure you can get your package after hours.
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Also UPS offers a 24 hour box service as well. Is there any benefit to using USPS vs UPS for 24 hour box service? Does UPS function differently?
The one thing I like about UPS is they offer a messaging service where they'll send you an e-mail or text when your package comes in. This would save me a great many trips to my box.
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I read somewhere on another thread that if the package doesn't fit in your box you'll find a key in your box to open a larger box with the package in it? Or would you have to go back during normal business hours and go to the window to claim an over sized package? If the former is true, it seems it would be best to just order the smallest sized box. If the later is true, it seems it would be best to order the largest sized box in order to be able to ensure you can get your package after hours.
It can happen both ways, but at my post office the yellow slip telling me there's a package at the front desk is a lot more common than the key to the special mailbox.
I haven't counted, but there are like 10 of the overflow boxes for about 500 regular PO boxes.
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Also UPS offers a 24 hour box service as well. Is there any benefit to using USPS vs UPS for 24 hour box service? Does UPS function differently?
The one thing I like about UPS is they offer a messaging service where they'll send you an e-mail or text when your package comes in. This would save me a great many trips to my box.
I have wondered this about UPS as well, but haven't taken the time to look into it yet.
The texts sound very promising.
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Fuckin' lobbies how do they work?
Have you entered a post office by chance recently, because usually they have a cashier part, a delivery part, and a P.O. box lobby.
You get a key, you walk in a door, there's a box.
It's so simple....
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Fuckin' lobbies how do they work?
Have you entered a post office by chance recently, because usually they have a cashier part, a delivery part, and a P.O. box lobby.
You get a key, you walk in a door, there's a box.
It's so simple....
Yes the post offices I've been in recently are not of the 24 hour variety and that's why I was asking how they work.
semi_feral_human that's what I was looking for thanks. If I understand you unless I purchase a very large sized box to fit my packages it's highly unlikely that I'll be able to obtain my packages after hours due to the limited amount of "overflow boxes" as you put it. I wonder if UPS is the same way with their 24 hour service.
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Hey juggalo lobbies get locked.
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My bad then. I guess not all post offices are equals...
But just by the title of your post you confused me. 24 access and after business hours together is an oxymoron.
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Hey Smokes,
I had a PO Box, the largest size, for three months from September to November of last year (2012). I got on the USPS website and checked to see which Post Offices had which size boxes available for rent and then I checked each one's lobby hours, focusing only on those with 24 hour access.
I ended up renting a size 5 box because I intended to receive multiple shipments at the same time and never wanted to be faced with having to go to the counter and sign or turn in my slip for a package. I realize that for the multiple packages I was receiving, the size 5 was overkill. I could have easily rented a size 4 box and still received all my packages at once without ever having to sign or go to the lock up area with the provided key.
I ended up canceling my rental of the box and cooling receiving drugs in the mail for a while, just because I wanted to. But it worked out perfectly fine. I think the most packages I had at a single time was 6 which included the large box Amazon uses to ship multiple books/DVDs of varying sizes plus 5 SR packages, like a couple of the 13 oz priority rate boxes and some 1st class envelopes.
Anyway, everything worked out fine and nothing ever happened that made me go "uh-oh, what's going on?" There were times I was in the Post Office lobby at 4:00 am on a workday during a work week and other times I went in at 2 in the afternoon.
PM me or write on here if you have any more specific questions and I'll do what I can to help.
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Hey Smokes,
I had a PO Box, the largest size, for three months from September to November of last year (2012). I got on the USPS website and checked to see which Post Offices had which size boxes available for rent and then I checked each one's lobby hours, focusing only on those with 24 hour access.
I ended up renting a size 5 box because I intended to receive multiple shipments at the same time and never wanted to be faced with having to go to the counter and sign or turn in my slip for a package. I realize that for the multiple packages I was receiving, the size 5 was overkill. I could have easily rented a size 4 box and still received all my packages at once without ever having to sign or go to the lock up area with the provided key.
I ended up canceling my rental of the box and cooling receiving drugs in the mail for a while, just because I wanted to. But it worked out perfectly fine. I think the most packages I had at a single time was 6 which included the large box Amazon uses to ship multiple books/DVDs of varying sizes plus 5 SR packages, like a couple of the 13 oz priority rate boxes and some 1st class envelopes.
Anyway, everything worked out fine and nothing ever happened that made me go "uh-oh, what's going on?" There were times I was in the Post Office lobby at 4:00 am on a workday during a work week and other times I went in at 2 in the afternoon.
PM me or write on here if you have any more specific questions and I'll do what I can to help.
Wait.. so packages can go into the large boxes? I asked the PO attendent about this months ago and they told me they are unable to put packages in boxes 4, 5, or 6, because there is a metal bar blocking the way, and that those boxes are only for businesses who receive a lot of letter mail. He made it sound like the only boxes that would fit would be the flat-rate priority boxes, and those fit into the size 3 boxes just fine...
If he was lying to me I'm going to be fucking pissed, because long ago I could have easily rented a size 6 with a fake id and fake papers and anonymously picked all my mail up at night even my large parcels. He told me large boxes won't fit into the large PO Boxes due to the bar... was he lying?
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Hey Smokes,
I had a PO Box, the largest size, for three months from September to November of last year (2012). I got on the USPS website and checked to see which Post Offices had which size boxes available for rent and then I checked each one's lobby hours, focusing only on those with 24 hour access.
I ended up renting a size 5 box because I intended to receive multiple shipments at the same time and never wanted to be faced with having to go to the counter and sign or turn in my slip for a package. I realize that for the multiple packages I was receiving, the size 5 was overkill. I could have easily rented a size 4 box and still received all my packages at once without ever having to sign or go to the lock up area with the provided key.
I ended up canceling my rental of the box and cooling receiving drugs in the mail for a while, just because I wanted to. But it worked out perfectly fine. I think the most packages I had at a single time was 6 which included the large box Amazon uses to ship multiple books/DVDs of varying sizes plus 5 SR packages, like a couple of the 13 oz priority rate boxes and some 1st class envelopes.
Anyway, everything worked out fine and nothing ever happened that made me go "uh-oh, what's going on?" There were times I was in the Post Office lobby at 4:00 am on a workday during a work week and other times I went in at 2 in the afternoon.
PM me or write on here if you have any more specific questions and I'll do what I can to help.
+1 for that answer! Thanks so much for sharing that.
I do have one question. From your experiences it sounds like a size 5 box would be way too much for me. I know from my own experiences that a 1 or 2 size box is not enough for me. Could I get away with a size 3 box instead of a size 4 box? I typically just try to get one package sent at a time. On occasion I'd have two coming at the same time but this is rare. I also have legit. mail coming through but most are just standard sized letters, not packages. So do you think that the majority of packages that SR senders are sending would fit in the size 3 box or do I need to step up to the 4? Thanks for your help.
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Hey Veetano,
It very well could be true that at that particular Post Office you went to, that is the current design of the larger PO boxes, where a metal bar lays over the top of each one preventing packages from being placed inside of them. Now at my particular Post Office, I think size 5 is the largest box offered and I've received everything from post cards up to the aforementioned Amazon box. My PO Box was one of those bin style drawers that squeaked really bad when you pulled it on the little track. If I were you I'd just go to a different Post Office until you found one where they don't have that bar over the top of the box. I hope that helps.
And Mr. Smokes,
No problem! I honestly think a 3 would work fine, especially if you only plan on getting one package at a time. I think they are just big enough to accommodate some of the funkier shaped priority box/envelope hybrid things (I have no idea what they are called, its one of the reasons I could never be a vendor. The Post Office confuses the hell out of me and beyond the occasional letter, I've never used the Post Office to mail anything) and they will definitely hold the 1st class padded envelopes. If I were you, I'd get on USPS.com and find a Post Office with a lobby near you that is open 24 hours and I'd trek on down there about 9 or 10 pm one evening and just eyeball a size 3 box. If it looks like you'd be able to fit a large size, hard cover book or a college text book in the box without difficulty then you will be fine for receiving any kind of package containing personal use quantities.
I hope that helps! Let me know if you need anything else.
Thanks again for the positive karma!