I've done some research (lots of links to follow), and I'm also going to share a brief personal experience.
Two years ago we took an extended sail, basically three
months, and beforehand I wondered about mail. My search led me to a company called Earth Class Mail, and if we had been planning a longer trip we would have signed up
(more on that in a minute). At the time, however, we decided to simply have our
mail held at one Post Office, and then forwarded to a second Post Office
halfway through our trip. This almost worked right. Our mail went all the way
to the right AK post office, then was oddly sent back to WA, and then was sent to AK again. As you can imagine
this caused a delay, but we did get the mail.
Now, back to Earth Class Mail.
Earth Class Mail is a service that allows you to either read your mail online (scanned), shred it, recycle it, or have it physically sent to you. You get to decide, and the prices are different for each. After Scott's question, I spent a good amount of time looking into their services again, and reading a ton of reviews on the service. To sum it up:
Earth Class Mail is a service that allows you to either read your mail online (scanned), shred it, recycle it, or have it physically sent to you. You get to decide, and the prices are different for each. After Scott's question, I spent a good amount of time looking into their services again, and reading a ton of reviews on the service. To sum it up:
1) There appear to be quite a few people who are very happy with the service, while also appreciating that it comes at a cost and has its limitations. For the reviews that I felt were "most real," and not "most rant," please follow the links below:
2) There are some people who seem quite unhappy with the service, but the unhappiness seems most related to the following items:
a) Earth Class Mail raised their prices substantially. (Here, I will note that when I considered signing up 2 years ago, I didn't see how it could possibly be so cheap. So, the price hike doesn't seem too surprising.)
b) They didn't fully understand the limitations/intricacies of what they were signing up for (my opinion), and thus were unhappy with the service structure. It appears to me that the Earth Class Mail site is quite detailed with information, but you do need to read it, and not just quickly sign-up.
c) They receive a lot of packages, which are expensive to have forwarded.
If you would like to read what appears to be the most read "I hate Earth Mail" review (2008), then visit the following link. But if you do, please read through the responses too, as there are many articulate folks who detail why they think the author is mistaken, and others who agree with him.
Now, if you read Pogue's New York Times article (link above), you will have seen a second option to Earth Class Mail called PaperlessMail. According to Pogue, PaperlessMail is cheaper, but offers far fewer choices for service. I believe one difference is that Earth Class Mail will forward you pretty much anything from a single envelope to a giant package, but PaperlessMail is not equipped to forward or deal with packages. They only scan mail and email it to you.
UPDATE: A third mail forwarding service identified is Voyagers Mail Forwarding Service. Thank you to Carolyn (see comments) for noticing that I missed VMFS in my original post. You can read her comment for a positive review of their services. I also searched for other reviews, but did not turn up much except for this:
Mail Forwarding Advisor
Mail Forwarding Services Comparison Charts Note: These charts contain other services not yet described, but included in a detailed comparison below.
What does all this mean to you, as a cruiser? Well, for me it means:
1) It is very important to reduce your physical mail as much as possible. Get off lists, cancel catalogs, and sign up for bank statements, bills, etc. to be delivered electronically whenever possible. I say this because the less physical mail you have, the less stress you will have regarding delivery, and the less expensive a mail service is going to be.
2) As much as possible, understand where you mail is going. Check out the advice from these long time cruisers on ways to have your mail forwarding service best package and address your mail to clear customs, assist in delivery, and avoid "sticky fingers."
Cruising and Sailing Dictionary: Mail
3) Know all your options! I visited a cruisers' forum and found the following incredible summary on different services (including Earth Class but not Paperless or Voyagers). Do take note, however, that the survey was completed in 2008, so prices will likely have changed. On the plus side, more extensive services might be offered as well. Still, I think the info is valuable as a cross comparison of the different services' structures. I hope this post answers questions! I love comments and questions, so keep them coming!
Thank you to Alect, from the flyertalk forum, for the incredibly detailed following information!! The remainder of this post is from Alect's research. Not mine.
We are moving to Australia in march and so I am looking for a mail forwarding service which:
Bongo International – www.bongous.com
USAMail1 – www.usamail1.com
USA2ME – www.usa2me.com
Earth Class Mail – www.earthclassmail.com
US Global Mail – www.usglobalmail.com
USA Box – www.usabox.com
Access USA – www.myus.com
My requirements were as follows:
• Wanted mail forwarded so that we wouldn’t miss any important letters or companies with whom we had forgotten to change our address
• Wanted a US mailing address for credit cards, memberships, online shopping etc…
• Wanted occasional package forwarding – eg if we wanted to shop online in the US because it was cheaper and have those packages sent to us in Australia.
• Wanted to have as much functionality and access online – view scanned mail, view incoming items, decided what to discard and what to scan or forward – this cuts down the costs of just forwarding everything indiscriminately.
• Possibly having subscribed magazines forwarded as magazine subscriptions in Australia are expensive
• Would be nice to have mailing address in a sales tax free state
Let’s take them one by one and review what I found out, and what I saw as the pros and cons.
AccessUSA
• Setup fee - $35
• Annual membership - $132
• Each additional name on the account/mailbox - $20 per annum
• Total cost for myself and my wife for one year - $187
• Typical 5lb package sent to Australia - $48.89
• Typical 10lb package sent to Australia - $81.77
• Consolidation – two boxes free then $3 per box
• Commercial invoice per shipment - $8
• Storage – 45 days free then $5 per box + $1 per lb per month
• Online review and discard option - Yes
• Mail scanning – NO
• Location of mailing address (not PO) - FL
USABox.com
• Setup fee - $25
• Monthly fee - $10
• Each additional name on the account/mailbox - $0
• Total cost for myself and my wife for one year - $145
• Typical 5lb package sent to Australia - $48.30
• Typical 10lb package sent to Australia - $73.05
• Consolidation – $5 per box or 50% of savings
• Storage – up to 6 months
• Online review and discard option - Yes
• Mail scanning - $10 per letter
• Location of mailing address (not PO) – FL
US Global Mail
• Setup fee - $0
• Monthly fee - $15 or $150 annually
• Each additional name on the account/mailbox - $0
• Total cost for myself and my wife for one year - $150
• Typical 5lb package sent to Australia - $62.33
• Typical 10lb package sent to Australia - $91.37
• Consolidation – $3 for boxes or $1.50 for letters and magazines
• Storage – 1 month free then $1 per lb per month
• Online review and discard option - Yes
• Mail scanning – not offered
• Location of mailing address (not PO) - TX
Earth Class Mail
• Setup fee - $25
• Monthly fee - $9.95 for annual subscription
• Each additional name on the account/mailbox - $3 per month
• Total cost for myself and my wife for one year - $181
• Typical 5lb package sent to Australia - $??? (would not provide)
• Typical 10lb package sent to Australia - $??? (would not provide)
• Consolidation – ???
• Storage – 90 days free then 3c per day per item
• Online review and discard option – Yes (shredding and recycling)
• Mail scanning – 50 pages included in monthly rate then 50c per envelope and 25c per page
• Location of mailing address (not PO) – OR
• Monthly rate includes 35 mail items per month received after which 35c per item – higher monthly rates include more received pieces per month (they are the only provider who counts received items for the monthly rate)
• Although every other provider had set or estimated shipping costs, this provider would not and simply kept pointing me to the DHL site for an estimate. Other providers charge far less than retail DHL rates. I think this service is most suited to those receiving mail only which they want to read online – not suitable for those wanting packages forwarded especially to outside of the USA.
USA2Me
• Setup fee - $15 (silver)
• Monthly fee - $10
• Each additional name on the account/mailbox - $5 per name per month
• Total cost for myself and my wife for one year - $195
• Typical 5lb package sent to Australia - $39.75
• Typical 10lb package sent to Australia - $49.75
• Consolidation – 50% of shipping savings
• Storage – 45 days free then $1 per lb per month
• Online review and discard option - Yes
• Mail scanning – 6 pages includes in monthly fee then 25c per page
• Location of mailing address (not PO) – TX
USAMail1.com
• Setup fee - $49.95 includes first 3 months rental
• Monthly fee - $9.99 after initial 3 months
• Each additional name on the account/mailbox - $25 once off
• Total cost for myself and my wife for one year - $165
• Typical 5lb package sent to Australia - $53.59
• Typical 10lb package sent to Australia - $79.84
• Consolidation – $6.95 per package
• Storage – 45 days storage free then $1 per lb per month
• Online review and discard option - Yes
• Mail scanning – $2 up to 6 pages and then 25c per page
• Location of mailing address (not PO) – NY
Bongo International
• Setup fee - $0
• Monthly fee - $15
• Each additional name on the account/mailbox - $0
• Total cost for myself and my wife for one year - $180
• Typical 5lb package sent to Australia - $53.59
• Typical 10lb package sent to Australia - $79.80
• Consolidation – FREE
• Storage – 45 days then $5 per month per item
• Online review and discard option - Yes
• Mail scanning – 50c per page
• Location of mailing address (not PO) - CT
Some things to note
• Consolidation – some don’t offer it, some charge flat fee per box/package, some offer it free, and others charge a % on the shipping savings achieved by consolidation
• Scanning mail – some includes some scanning in the base price, several charged a flat fee up to 6 pages and then a per page fee – I figured that most mail I would want to scan would be 1-2 pages so the $2 up to 6 pages base isn’t good value – I would rather go for the lower per page rate on a needs basis
Based on my review and modeling of what/how I would use it, I ranked the following top 3:
• Bongo
• USAMail1.com
• USA2Me.com
I am going with Bongo as they seemed the best value for money in my case and they were very responsive to questions both online and on the phone. Among the top 3 they had the best balance of ongoing fees (no cost additional names), consolidation costs (free), shipping rates and scanning costs.
I would recommend based on the above info, if you’re looking into such a service that you model your estimated use and features and calculate your costs for each of these providers – differing requirements may/will result in different rankings of the above providers. __________________
UPDATE: A third mail forwarding service identified is Voyagers Mail Forwarding Service. Thank you to Carolyn (see comments) for noticing that I missed VMFS in my original post. You can read her comment for a positive review of their services. I also searched for other reviews, but did not turn up much except for this:
Mail Forwarding Advisor
Mail Forwarding Services Comparison Charts Note: These charts contain other services not yet described, but included in a detailed comparison below.
What does all this mean to you, as a cruiser? Well, for me it means:
1) It is very important to reduce your physical mail as much as possible. Get off lists, cancel catalogs, and sign up for bank statements, bills, etc. to be delivered electronically whenever possible. I say this because the less physical mail you have, the less stress you will have regarding delivery, and the less expensive a mail service is going to be.
2) As much as possible, understand where you mail is going. Check out the advice from these long time cruisers on ways to have your mail forwarding service best package and address your mail to clear customs, assist in delivery, and avoid "sticky fingers."
Cruising and Sailing Dictionary: Mail
3) Know all your options! I visited a cruisers' forum and found the following incredible summary on different services (including Earth Class but not Paperless or Voyagers). Do take note, however, that the survey was completed in 2008, so prices will likely have changed. On the plus side, more extensive services might be offered as well. Still, I think the info is valuable as a cross comparison of the different services' structures. I hope this post answers questions! I love comments and questions, so keep them coming!
Thank you to Alect, from the flyertalk forum, for the incredibly detailed following information!! The remainder of this post is from Alect's research. Not mine.
We are moving to Australia in march and so I am looking for a mail forwarding service which:
- provides online access to received mail
- allows user to specify whether each item can be discarded, scanned or forwarded
- allows scanning of content of mail
- forwarding to international address, including aggregating several items into one package
- ability to accept shipping of online orders (so not a PO Box) and forwarding to international address
Bongo International – www.bongous.com
USAMail1 – www.usamail1.com
USA2ME – www.usa2me.com
Earth Class Mail – www.earthclassmail.com
US Global Mail – www.usglobalmail.com
USA Box – www.usabox.com
Access USA – www.myus.com
My requirements were as follows:
• Wanted mail forwarded so that we wouldn’t miss any important letters or companies with whom we had forgotten to change our address
• Wanted a US mailing address for credit cards, memberships, online shopping etc…
• Wanted occasional package forwarding – eg if we wanted to shop online in the US because it was cheaper and have those packages sent to us in Australia.
• Wanted to have as much functionality and access online – view scanned mail, view incoming items, decided what to discard and what to scan or forward – this cuts down the costs of just forwarding everything indiscriminately.
• Possibly having subscribed magazines forwarded as magazine subscriptions in Australia are expensive
• Would be nice to have mailing address in a sales tax free state
Let’s take them one by one and review what I found out, and what I saw as the pros and cons.
AccessUSA
• Setup fee - $35
• Annual membership - $132
• Each additional name on the account/mailbox - $20 per annum
• Total cost for myself and my wife for one year - $187
• Typical 5lb package sent to Australia - $48.89
• Typical 10lb package sent to Australia - $81.77
• Consolidation – two boxes free then $3 per box
• Commercial invoice per shipment - $8
• Storage – 45 days free then $5 per box + $1 per lb per month
• Online review and discard option - Yes
• Mail scanning – NO
• Location of mailing address (not PO) - FL
USABox.com
• Setup fee - $25
• Monthly fee - $10
• Each additional name on the account/mailbox - $0
• Total cost for myself and my wife for one year - $145
• Typical 5lb package sent to Australia - $48.30
• Typical 10lb package sent to Australia - $73.05
• Consolidation – $5 per box or 50% of savings
• Storage – up to 6 months
• Online review and discard option - Yes
• Mail scanning - $10 per letter
• Location of mailing address (not PO) – FL
US Global Mail
• Setup fee - $0
• Monthly fee - $15 or $150 annually
• Each additional name on the account/mailbox - $0
• Total cost for myself and my wife for one year - $150
• Typical 5lb package sent to Australia - $62.33
• Typical 10lb package sent to Australia - $91.37
• Consolidation – $3 for boxes or $1.50 for letters and magazines
• Storage – 1 month free then $1 per lb per month
• Online review and discard option - Yes
• Mail scanning – not offered
• Location of mailing address (not PO) - TX
Earth Class Mail
• Setup fee - $25
• Monthly fee - $9.95 for annual subscription
• Each additional name on the account/mailbox - $3 per month
• Total cost for myself and my wife for one year - $181
• Typical 5lb package sent to Australia - $??? (would not provide)
• Typical 10lb package sent to Australia - $??? (would not provide)
• Consolidation – ???
• Storage – 90 days free then 3c per day per item
• Online review and discard option – Yes (shredding and recycling)
• Mail scanning – 50 pages included in monthly rate then 50c per envelope and 25c per page
• Location of mailing address (not PO) – OR
• Monthly rate includes 35 mail items per month received after which 35c per item – higher monthly rates include more received pieces per month (they are the only provider who counts received items for the monthly rate)
• Although every other provider had set or estimated shipping costs, this provider would not and simply kept pointing me to the DHL site for an estimate. Other providers charge far less than retail DHL rates. I think this service is most suited to those receiving mail only which they want to read online – not suitable for those wanting packages forwarded especially to outside of the USA.
USA2Me
• Setup fee - $15 (silver)
• Monthly fee - $10
• Each additional name on the account/mailbox - $5 per name per month
• Total cost for myself and my wife for one year - $195
• Typical 5lb package sent to Australia - $39.75
• Typical 10lb package sent to Australia - $49.75
• Consolidation – 50% of shipping savings
• Storage – 45 days free then $1 per lb per month
• Online review and discard option - Yes
• Mail scanning – 6 pages includes in monthly fee then 25c per page
• Location of mailing address (not PO) – TX
USAMail1.com
• Setup fee - $49.95 includes first 3 months rental
• Monthly fee - $9.99 after initial 3 months
• Each additional name on the account/mailbox - $25 once off
• Total cost for myself and my wife for one year - $165
• Typical 5lb package sent to Australia - $53.59
• Typical 10lb package sent to Australia - $79.84
• Consolidation – $6.95 per package
• Storage – 45 days storage free then $1 per lb per month
• Online review and discard option - Yes
• Mail scanning – $2 up to 6 pages and then 25c per page
• Location of mailing address (not PO) – NY
Bongo International
• Setup fee - $0
• Monthly fee - $15
• Each additional name on the account/mailbox - $0
• Total cost for myself and my wife for one year - $180
• Typical 5lb package sent to Australia - $53.59
• Typical 10lb package sent to Australia - $79.80
• Consolidation – FREE
• Storage – 45 days then $5 per month per item
• Online review and discard option - Yes
• Mail scanning – 50c per page
• Location of mailing address (not PO) - CT
Some things to note
• Consolidation – some don’t offer it, some charge flat fee per box/package, some offer it free, and others charge a % on the shipping savings achieved by consolidation
• Scanning mail – some includes some scanning in the base price, several charged a flat fee up to 6 pages and then a per page fee – I figured that most mail I would want to scan would be 1-2 pages so the $2 up to 6 pages base isn’t good value – I would rather go for the lower per page rate on a needs basis
Based on my review and modeling of what/how I would use it, I ranked the following top 3:
• Bongo
• USAMail1.com
• USA2Me.com
I am going with Bongo as they seemed the best value for money in my case and they were very responsive to questions both online and on the phone. Among the top 3 they had the best balance of ongoing fees (no cost additional names), consolidation costs (free), shipping rates and scanning costs.
I would recommend based on the above info, if you’re looking into such a service that you model your estimated use and features and calculate your costs for each of these providers – differing requirements may/will result in different rankings of the above providers. __________________
