Are private P.O. Box rentals a thing?

[crazy950]

So I was thinking of a little side business to start up and was wondering if it is possible to start your own P.O. box company? I imagine it would be pretty low startup and low maintenance i.e. it pretty much runs itself. I'm not looking to get rich off this, but I wonder if this is actually a thing and if anybody knows anything about this?

 

[613jono]

@crazy950 I would look at what they don't do: temporary or short term rental, or for more rural areas that don't have post offices. Find what they don't do then see if there is demand for that and validate before you make it. If there is no demand then do something else.

 

[thesweetestperfection]

@crazy950 crowded industry already. Post office has mortgage free real estate, better margins, you'll have a hard time competing.

An idea i had last night, that would be low cost, self sustaining. Online schedule application. Make it free. Corps use the app, and the workers can see the schedules anytime, anywhere.

 

[crazy950]

@thesweetestperfection it seems as if in my area, there are only official post offices and ups stores, no private shipping/mailbox stores.... seems odd

 

[thesweetestperfection]

@crazy950 Exactly. Seems odd to you. But once you do some more diligence, you will draw the same conclusions as the others who tried to venture this route also. Its almost like a monopoly, and the effort, is not worth the reward.
Competing with government subsidized industry is a bad idea.

 

[meehan8381]

@crazy950 Well you need a secure building and probably some security cameras or a guard. Not sure how much people pay for PO boxes, but it seems like the expenses outweigh the profits.

 

[crazy950]

@meehan8381 like I mentioned, I know it's not a "get rich quick" business, but I feel it may be profitable, but I'm not sure...

 

[jaz2001]

@crazy950 You need a reason for people to go to you instead of the post office.

Example: there is a private P.O. box service on Bay Street (Canada's answer to Wall Street) that markets to businesses wanting a prestigious Bay Street address.

 

[crazy950]

@jaz2001 I'm not quite sure if post offices leave doors open 24 hours for people to access their box whenever necessary(they probably do), but that is somethign I could offer for people with strange hours

 

[texas_flood]

@crazy950

I'm not quite sure if post offices leave doors open 24 hours for people to access their box whenever necessary

Nearly all Post Offices leave the door open 24/7 to the PO Box section for people to access their boxes. The one issue they have is that when you get an oversized package, you can only pick it up during business hours at the front desk.

 

[crazy950]

@texas_flood that's what I figured, thanks for clarifying. if i did open this sort of business, my hours would be much more favorable than the post office to avoid this issue for people who work later

 

[crazy950]

@jaz2001 It would be a one stop shop plus much more accomodating hours than traditional post offices for people who may work late and don't want to miss their mail/packages. I could be an official UPS drop off point, maybe fedex too. offer stamps and a small amount of shipping supplies, maybe paper shredding, become a western union agent, and even offer notary services. I think if this is all offered in an urbanish area with no nearby contenders, it could be a nice little business. that's just me though

 

[lindasdf]

@crazy950 I’m not an expert so take my experience lightly. P.O. boxes are very popular along the border. Mexicans rent these boxes to receive mail and packages they buy and once a month or period of time they pick it up since they can’t live in the US.
I use to work in Mexico and would pay about $300 a year. I would say it makes a difference if the place looks secure and clean. Trust it key.

 

[rawtheran]

@crazy950

I wonder if this is actually a thing

I mean, there’s three of these near my apartment, plus a post office. Lol.

 

[crazy950]

@rawtheran I've honestly never seen private PO Box stores in my city and I live in a bigger US city too... all PO boxes here are at post offices

 

[texas_flood]

@crazy950 There are 2 big niche services when it comes to PO Boxes outside of the gov Post Offices:

Providing someone with a street mailing address, rather than a PO BOX. Home based businesses want this because it makes it look like they have a real physical office location, and because PO Boxes are not accepted for shipping and signing up for things (sometimes registering a business, you need a st address and people don't want to use their home address)

The 2nd service is scanning peoples mail and emailing it to them so they can work remote from anywhere in the world.

Most of the private PO Box services are usually a side business and not the main revenue stream. You might see a mail service offered by a printing company for example

 

[crazy950]

@texas_flood thank you! yes, this would not be my primary source of income. I would definitely go the physical address route. there are tons of homeless people around, so it could provide them with a mailing address if that's something they need.... idk