Heads Up: PO Boxes in the US are Expensive and Not Anonymous

[AndroidAmongHumans]

I'm posting about this here because I've seen people discuss using a PO box instead of their home address for anonymity when shipping materials. I've been trying to get a PO box for the past couple of days because I'm moving out of my old apartment last minute and crashing at a partner's place for a month, and as such I don't have a permanent mailing address to receive anything at for the next couple of months. First of all, PO boxes are way more expensive than most discussions and media portrayals lead you to believe. To get one that's too small for a package and only big enough for a dozen envelopes, you have to lease them for a minimum of 3 months (and sometimes it's a minimum of 6 months). It's $54 for the smallest possible box at the smallest amount of time, and larger units that are intended for packages to be dropped off in them can go for $150-$400 to just rent them for 6 months to a year. More importantly, these things are in no way anonymous; the USPS requires you to show your driver's license or other photo ID and a copy of a document signed with your legal name on it tying you to a permanent home address. For the second document, most people use signed leases or documents of home sales, but you can apparently also use bills or insurance paperwork. However, if you don't have your name on a lease to a permanent home address, your options are to either ask someone who does have an address to lease one in their name (the name on the PO box has to match the name on the lease or home ownership used as a base address) or, if you're homeless, to go to a shelter, hope you can stay there for several weeks to several months instead of jumping in and out of shelters in few day increments, and ask the social workers and shelter staff to get a PO box in your name through the social programs. However, a PO box is in no way anonymizing in a way that prevents your mail being tracked or from it being tied to your actual home address, it just keeps the sender from seeing you home address, and you can't get one without your own name on a lease or house.

 

[uglyugly]

You are correct. I had a business once and opened a PO box in its name, but it's easy enough for someone to figure out it was me. It's difficult to get mail anonymously here in the US.

 

[Leiot]

NOTHING in the US is anonymous. You're only hope is to ship pieces individually so the combination doesn't set off a flag somewhere.