Traveling Mailbox vs. iPostal1
Review and Comparison
Traveling Mailbox and iPostal1 both offer virtual mailbox services, but iPostal1 offers thousands more addresses at less cost, including package receiving and mail pickup at all locations. iPostal1 provides reviews and comparisons vs. other services to help you make an informed choice. We hope you find this Traveling Mailbox review of value.
Topline Summary
Traveling Mailbox
Traveling Mailbox offers 45 mailbox addresses, but really operates one central location at Sanford, NC with 44 satellite mailbox addresses that forward all mail to Sanford for processing. Monthly mailbox prices for the Basic Plan start at $15 at Sanford but are 33% to 66% higher at the satellite locations. Extended and Small Business plans are also available. All plans include a certain number of content page scans.
Mail pickup is not available at any of the mailbox locations. If you have a mailbox address at a satellite location, you will need to wait 2 or 3 days before you can view your received mail; you need to ship all your packages to Sanford or pay extra to forward them from your mailbox address to Sanford. Traveling Mailbox offers integrations with several third-party services, including Evernote and Dropbox.
iPostal1
With iPostal1, you can select from over 3,250 real street addresses at professional pack & ship stores and coworking spaces in prestigious office buildings, starting at $9.99/month at over 2500 of our locations. All locations process your mail on site, so you can view your mail on the day it arrives and pick up your mail or packages if you wish.
iPostal1 is the only digital mailbox service to offer real-time shipping price quotes for multiple carriers and levels of service, so you make an informed choice and save time when you want to forward mail or packages. iPostal1 also offers plans that come with phone and fax.
Conclusion
While many of the digital mailbox features offered by both services are similar, there are several key advantages offered by iPostal1: many more mailbox address locations, lower mailbox monthly fees, no delay in viewing your mail, pickup and package receiving at any location, real-time shipping prices, and Virtual Office plans with phone and fax.
Company Overview
Traveling Mailbox
Traveling Mailbox is a virtual mailbox and address service established in 2011 in Sanford, NC. The corporate location in Sanford is the operational hub, where all mail is processed and stored. They offer 44 other satellite locations, which include at the time of this writing 29 retail pack and ship stores and 15 workspaces, which receive mail but must forward it on to Sanford for processing. They offer three mailbox plan types that allow users to view an image of the outside of mail received, then use an app or go online to manage their mail. All plans include the same basic services but vary in price according to the number of incoming mail items each month, number of page scans included, and number of mail recipients.
They offer three mailbox plan types that allow users to view an image of the outside of mail received, then use an app or go online to manage their mail. All plans include the same basic services but vary in price according to the number of incoming mail items each month, number of page scans included, and number of mail recipients.
iPostal1
iPostal1 is the worldwide leader in the digital mailbox industry, introducing digital mailbox technology in 2007 at our own retail pack and ship store, and improving it every year since. Launched in 2015, iPostal1 is now the largest provider network with over 3,250 locations in the U.S. and abroad. Mail and packages are received, stored and handled at your selected address.
You view and manage your mail and packages with an app for iPhone or Android, or online. You can request to open and scan, forward, shred, discard or pick up mail with just a few clicks. At many locations, you can even deposit a check by mail. Plans are designed to deliver great value, depending on how much mail you expect, with an option to add phone and fax for a virtual office presence.
How iPostal1 is Different vs. Traveling Mailbox
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Honest advertising. iPostal1 advertises a monthly price starting at $9.99, which is available at over 2500 of our locations. Traveling Mailbox advertises a Basic Plan mailbox price of $15 per month on their pricing page, but the truth is that only the Sanford, NC address offers this price.
Three Traveling Mailbox addresses charge $24.95 for the same Basic Plan and the remaining 41 addresses charge $19.95. The same is true for their Extended and Small Business Plans – all but the Sanford location are $5.00 or $10.00 more than advertised.
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Cost. The fact is you can get a virtual mailbox with iPostal1 for $9.99 at over 2500 locations that includes 30 mail items per month. With Traveling Mailbox, you would pay $15.00 at Sanford and $19.95 or $24.95 at their other mailbox locations for 40 mail items. Unless you do a lot of mail content scanning every month, you will save a lot of money with iPostal1 – from $60 to $180 per year. Why pay for ‘free scanning’ if you don’t need it?
When it comes to scanning mail content, why pay for higher price plans with ‘free scanning’ if you don’t need it? And if you do plan to scan mail content, with iPostal1 you pay for it only when you use it. It’s only $1.50 per content scan order up to 10 pages with an iPostal1 Discount Bundle.
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More addresses. There are over 3,250 real street addresses in the iPostal1 network at professional pack and ship stores and executive business centers in prestigious office buildings, with new ones added weekly. Traveling Mailbox has 45 address locations.
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Delivery time. With iPostal1 you get access to your mail the day it is received, but you must wait another 2 or 3 days with Traveling Mailbox if your address is not Sanford. All iPostal1 locations are professional shipping stores or workspaces that securely receive, store, and manage your mail on location. All satellite locations with Traveling Mailbox just receive your mail and then forward it to Sanford, NC.
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Mail pickup. With iPostal1, you can pick up your mail and packages at any location. With Traveling Mailbox, there is no pickup at any location.
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Package receiving and pickup. You can receive and pick up packages at any iPostal1 address. Shop online and have a safe, secure, and convenient location to protect your packages from porch pirates, then pick them up when you get home.
However, with Traveling Mailbox, you can’t pick up packages. In fact, if you have any address other than Sanford, you must ship your packages to Sanford or pay extra to forward them there.
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Real-time shipping prices. iPostal1 shows real-time shipping prices for multiple carriers and levels of service, so you can quickly choose the option that best meets your needs and budget.
With Traveling Mailbox, you don’t know what the cost will be until you receive a reply with a quote – and you still won’t know what other shipping options would cost in order to make an informed choice.
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Plans with local phone and fax. iPostal1 Virtual Office plans, for as low as $39.99 per month, come with Digital Mailbox service plus a local or toll-free phone and fax number, to create a complete virtual office presence. Get phone forwarding, digital voice mail messaging, and faxes delivered as PDF documents right to your Digital Mailbox. Traveling Mailbox does not offer plans with phone and fax.
Feature Comparison: Traveling Mailbox vs. iPostal1
Feature | iPostal1 | Traveling Mailbox |
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Real street addresses | Over 3,250 | 45 |
All locations process mail onsite | Yes | No |
Get access to your mail | The day it is received | 2 or 3 days later, except Sanford |
Package receiving | All locations | Sanford only without extra cost |
Pick up mail | All locations | Not Available |
Digital Mailbox Plan pricing | $9.99 to $39.99 | Sanford $15 to $55; Others $20 to $65 |
Free mail items received per month | 30 to 240 | 40 to 200 |
Plans that come with local phone and fax | Yes, starting at $39.99 | Not available |
Interior mail content scanning | $1.50 for up to 10 pages with Scan Bundle | 35 to 180 pages included with plans |
View and manage mail with an app | For iPhone and Android | For iPhone and Android |
Real-time shipping prices with choice of carriers | Yes | No |
Check deposit by mail | Most locations | Yes |
Free mail storage | 30 days | 30 days |
Integrations | No | Dropbox, Evernote, Bill.com |
Recycling and shredding | Yes | Yes |
Help Me Decide
Unless you want an address at Sanford, NC and plan to scan a lot of mail content every month, iPostal1 offers a host of advantages: lower cost mailbox fees, faster access to your mail, mail pickup at any location, and a much larger network of real street addresses.
The iPostal1 Customer Service team can answer your questions or deal with any issues that might arise. iPostal1 is BBB accredited with an A+ rating. Customers give iPostal1 high ratings on every major review site. But don’t take our word for it - check out the reviews yourself!
Choose the Virtual Mailbox plan that works best for you!
Virtual Mailing Address
With digital mailbox for me and my family.
Starting at
$9.99*
per
month
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Get a real physical street address
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View and manage your mail and packages from anywhere
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Prevent mail and package theft
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Protect your privacy
Virtual Business Address
With digital mailbox for my business.
Starting at
$14.99*
per
month
Includes everything in Virtual Mailing Address plus:
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Get mail in your business name
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Use it to register your business
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Upgrade your business image
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Optional office building address
Virtual Office
With digital mailbox plus phone and fax.
Starting at
$39.99*
per
month
Includes everything in Virtual Business Address plus:
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Local or toll-free phone and fax
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Call forwarding and voicemail
iPostal1 Virtual Mailbox Locations
iPostal1 mailbox locations are professionally-staffed and secure. We can receive your mail and packages and then forward, scan, recycle, shred or let you pick them up. Access your digital mailbox using our app or website.
Choose from our network of over 3,250 locations or view only office buildings and workspaces or discounted international forwarding locations to save up to 80% on international shipping from the U.S.
List your Shipping Store, Workspace or Mail Center address on iPostal1
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