When you decide that you now travel enough to need a mail forwarding service, and start looking around, you will find that there are a few more decisions to make than you might have originally thought about. Of course, it's nothing you need to ponder over and lose sleep at night, but here are some important aspects of that you should be looking for in a service that will handle your important mail.
USPS Mail Forwarding - the first thing you'll want to review is if you will have the opportunity to have any mail actually forwarded to you. For example, if you have scanning included with your service and you see an envelope that needs the paperwork inside signed, will the virtual mailbox service send you this letter? And, at what cost? Actual mail forwarding costs for important mail can vary a lot by each service, and this is usually an extra fee so be sure you use it as one of your comparison points.
Mail Scanning - Some Companies offer mail scanning, some only offer forwarding. Of course, if you just need forwarding it will be much cheaper than getting a full-service virtual mail company and actually, if forwarding is all you need you might be better off just using USPS mail forwarding through your home post office. However, if you are traveling around a lot, you're going to be better off if you change your address just once to the forwarding company and use that address consistently. The Post office does not like it when you change your address every other week (if that's even allowed).
When you're reviewing your scanning options, first see how many envelope scans you will get for the basic price; then compare how many content scans you will be allowed. This is where some people get tricked by the allowance of content scans. You will need to find out of a "content scan" means the entire contents of the envelope, or if you will be paying for each page inside the envelope that is scanned. Fees in this area could add up fast if you aren't aware of what you are actually signing up for.
Virtual Mailing Address - The last thing you will need to consider is what virtual mailing address you want. If you're using mail forwarding because you travel a lot it probably doesn't matter. You can select the basic option and use the address of the company as your new virtual address. However, if you are thinking about using your new address for business reasons, you might want an address that is in your city or closer to you.
Your virtual address options will vary a lot depending on which service you select, so if this matters, be careful to note what your options are for addresses in different cities. You will also need to decide if a PO Box in that city will be sufficient for your needs or if you want to have a prestigious virtual mailing address that includes the street address.
As you can see, there may be more to decide on than you originally expected. I hope I've given you enough information to make an informed decision. For a quick "at a glance" comparison of all the options we discussed above and price differences of two mail forwarding service providers, check out www.VirtualMailCenter.com.
Happy Trails to You!
