Mail Forwarding Virtual Mailbox

[ewacowboy]

I have searched the forum and found a number of comments on mail forwarding but not an answer to my question.  We are 90 percent ready to full time....as soon as the house sells.  I have researched our domicile options and am leaning to SD, TX comes in a close second.  With that in mind, I am wondering if anyone has the "virtual" mail box service offered by a few companies.  I like the idea of being able to see my mail as it arrives and shred/discard on demand.  If we go SD and want a virtual mailbox, then it really boils down to one company.  

My questions are - has anyone used the virtual mailbox feature?  If so, how do you like it?  Is it worth the extra cost?  Does anyone know if Escapees is going to eventually go this direction in the future?  It seems like the natural way to do things....but I'm open to comments.

Edit - as I look at Escapees service they do offer the virtual option....for an additional $10 per month.  My question still stands - is the extra cost worth it?

[SWharton]

Based on the minimal amount of mail we receive I can't see a "virtual" mailbox as being worth it. We have everything automated for payment and can view a majority of our bills online if needed. Our biggest problem is our doctors still believe in snail mail, though I can pay online. One day that will change.........................

[soos]

3 hours ago, SWharton said:

Based on the minimal amount of mail we receive I can't see a "virtual" mailbox as being worth it. We have everything automated for payment and can view a majority of our bills online if needed. Our biggest problem is our doctors still believe in snail mail, though I can pay online. One day that will change.........................

x 2.  Most of the mail we DO get is something we need forwarded, like vehicle tags. We only have our mail forwarded about every 6 weeks or so.  Sometimes more, after dr. Appointments (-although our new dr. Is paperless, with a portal) and at tax time.

After so many years on the road, you learn to anticipate what you will get for mail.  For instance, I don't wait for the renewal notice on registrations, I know when they renew, so I just go online and renew it.  No need to pay someone to scan it or wharever.

[SWharton]

Soos mentioned the vehicle tags and other renewals. Many states send an email and you don't even need to wait for the mail to catch up. When we are in winter quarters we have our mail forwarded every 3-4 weeks, rest of the time it is further apart. Just make sure when you have mail forwarded to you on the road you select a small town for your General Delivery. Many cgs will also accept mail for future visitors, always give a call first.

[lafarmer]

A good service to use for mail forwarding is http://www.yourbestaddress.com. They give you a chance to have a SD residency even on the road.  There is no State income tax in SD, insurance is cheaper for vehicles, and vehicle registration is usually cheaper too.  YourBestAddress is real people, owned by a SD resident and ready to answer your questions. 

[Dutch_12078]

What features of YourBestAddress make it a better choice than MyDakotaAddress, Americas-Mailbox, DakotaPost, etc.?

[2gypsies]

We succeeded in getting absolutely no junk mail during our 16 years of full-timing.  We began six months prior to taking off with contacting the company to take our name off their mailing list.  By six months we were getting a few pieces and by a year absolutely none and it's stayed that way.  Every time we order something or subscribe to a magazine we check that we won't be put on a mailing list for catalogs, special offers or selling our name to other companies.  It really does work.

As stated, nowadays most things can be done online so very little mail is received.  I certainly wouldn't pay extra to be notified that something came in the mail and I definitely wouldn't want them opening things.

[Alie&Jim's Carrilite]

We use the virtual mailbox from Dakota Post and like it.  It lets us see if something is important or not before deciding on a mail delivery.

[chindog]

We use the Passport America mail service out of Crestview, FL.  Before we went full time, we were using Traveling Mailbox. I hated to change, but we needed the Crestview address for insurance reasons.  One of the things I miss is the envelope scans.  Now we just get a text description of the sender and envelope weight. 

I got very excited a couple of days ago when I got an email from USPS saying that the Informed Delivery service was available in our area.  That service gives you an envelope scan of all mail coming to your mailbox.  However, I was disappointed when I went to USPS online and plugged in my address, and found the service was not available for my address.  I don't know if it because of the zip code, or the fact that my address is a mail forwarding service with a PMB.

[Alie&Jim's Carrilite]

9 hours ago, rm.w/aview said:

To see the outside, (unopened), piece of mail first before deciding to send or not is THE attractive feature that has us considering virtual mailbox, and that $120 a year that I mentioned above is with SKP... I've seen costs for service that were lower, but without the scanning aspect, SKP mail service is what we'll choose when we uproot.

 

All of our mail is shown as you have said.  But if its something that we need to read, they will open and scan to us.  That way we can act on the information without either waiting another mail cycle, or paying for an extra delivery.

[BigTexRex]

You may not need it as you settle into full-timing, but I highly recommend it to begin with.  I was surprised by how many items needed my immediate attention or I wanted right away in the first two months of retirement. Things have settled down now and time will tell if I continue with the scan service.