Suggestions for mail forwarding services

daveola · October 07, 2009, 04:59:29 PM

So I'm finally going to try out fulltiming!

I'm going to be in my bus for almost a year, and then maybe even more, though I might rent a warehouse to pull my bus into.

Otherwise I'm trying to figure out where to get a forwarding address and if I even need one.

I'm in California and have my license and vehicle reg here already, and most of the time I'm in the states I'll be in California.

The options as I see them:

1) Get a California street forwarding address and not have to deal with changing residency right now
I managed to find one company that'll do this.
2) Get a TX/SD/FL forwarding address
(Is my driver's license going to be in danger if I don't have an address in my state of residency?
I know I can probably get away with claiming TX/SD/FL residency, but I'm probably not going to
be in TX/SD/FL much at all)
3) Not get any forwarding service and just forward residency specific mail to a CA friend and the
rest to my non-CA parents and hope I don't get much mail.

Any thoughts on how much mail I'll be getting and how much it'll matter what state it goes to?

fe2_o3 · October 07, 2009, 06:20:11 PM

We are using a PO Box and our kids have access. They can send us important mail (Bus Conversion Mag.) or do what ever needed to keep things in check when we're on the road. If this fails we'll have to rethink, but there are as many options as there are fulltimers. I believe RVTraveldotcom also has forums on this very topic. What ever you decide, best of luck, and keep us informed on how it works out....Cable

Dreamscape · October 07, 2009, 06:22:42 PM

Go to this site, they have all the answers to your questions, if not you just ask.

http://www.escapees.com/index2.asp

They have a mail forwarding service and forums, have fun!

Paul

daveola · October 07, 2009, 06:27:11 PM

Thanks fe2_o3. I'm worried about a PO Box, though, because of things like drivers licenses, vehicle reg and fictitious business name addresses.

Dreamscape, thanks for the url - I actually have a bunch of companies already for mail forwarding, I'm mostly just trying to figure out if I need one in CA, or if I even need one at all.

Here are the companies I've found so far:

Escapees, myrvmail, goodsammail, vmfs, usa2me, paperlessmail, amhomebase, mailforwardingDOTbiz

RJ · October 08, 2009, 12:46:12 AM

Dave -

Since you said you're mostly going to be in CA, check out some of the "pack & ship" places. Many of them have what the US Postal Service calls "PMB", for Private Mail Box. Using one of these will give you an actual street address with the box tacked onto it, like this:

Dave Ola
1234 S San Francisco Dr PMB 5678
San Francisco CA 95008-5678

One thing about using one of these outfits is that you've got a street business address that can receive UPS, FedEx, DHL, etc., something you wouldn't get with a PO Box w/ the USPS (I've run into this myself. . .)

They will also forward your mail either by UPS or the Post Office at any frequency you choose - daily, weekly, bi-weekly, monthly, etc. Obviously you'll pay for this, and the more frequent the more expensive, but it is a possible solution to your question, w/o having to go out of state.

FWIW & HTH. . .

Dreamscape · October 08, 2009, 03:19:38 AM

RJ,

Good point, as that is what we have. Even though we live in the bus fulltime, Abilene is our home base. A small box is $7 a month, and UPS & FedEx does deliver there.

Paul

jjrbus · October 08, 2009, 04:13:57 AM

I used American Home base for years. Some business requires a street address, which the mail forwarding services provides for you. Can you rigister to vote from a POBox?? You almost must have a phsycial address in this country. Actually if memory serves me right you cannot rent a PO Box without a physical address! I could be wrong, it may have changed. You can use a relative or friend for this.
The great thing about the forwarding services is they will forward your mail anywhere (you pay for each delivery) You can be in the woods outside Mud Butte SD call up and have them send your mail to General Delivery Mud Butte and it will be at the Post Office in a couple days!! Does Mud Butte have a PO?

HTH Jim

Ed Hackenbruch · October 08, 2009, 05:30:05 AM

We have the same set up as RJ described and have been using it for over 5 years. Big hint....try to cut down on the amount of junk mail sent to you.

Sam's club was the worst for us, took 2 years after our membership ended before they quit sending us stuff. You can have the mail place just send 1st class stuff to you but i always worried they might miss something important so just had them send it all.

jjrbus · October 08, 2009, 05:14:15 PM

Ordering products online can be difficult when traveling also. Some companys will not ship to a PO Box, they also will not ship to an address other than the credit card billing address. You can send the item to your mail forwarding service and have them ship it to you = double shipping charges.

With my credit card what I did was constantly change my billing address online. It was a PITA but it worked. My banking was all paperless and all banking was done online, so it did not really matter what my address was. The bank did not require proof of residency for billing address.

Jim

luvrbus · October 08, 2009, 05:56:49 PM

Fmca has a good mail forwarding service also we used it for 2 years the once a week service and could call if we were expecting something specail and they would get out the next day.
Membership is required for the service same goes for the Escapees but with FMCA you can say no junk mail and with Escapees they will load you up with the stuff trying to sell you lots in Livington TX

good luck

Chuck Newman · October 08, 2009, 08:00:14 PM

QuoteI'm in California and have my license and vehicle reg here already, and most of the time I'm in the states I'll be in California.

Dave,

That statement means your Domicile is California. As it probably has been for years. And that term is comprised of several issues, not just one or two. I only mention it in the event you would like to do more research on the subject of changing state of domicile.

If you're going to keep your CA license, vehicle registrations, voter registration, etc., using RJ's post about private mail businesses as an example, you can have all your mail legally sent to any address you want in any state. You could order jewelry from eBay, have it sent to a mail service in another state, and have the mail service forward it to you via General Delivery at the local Post Office, or UPS/Fed Ex at the campground where you are.

The problems with this scenario that will arise are:

1. California DMV has sent my renewals to a POB in the past, but they really don't want to any longer, particularly since the Terrorist Bill passed in Congress in 2005 (forgot the exact title of it). The point being they will hassle you about the PMB address listed on the license when it comes up for renewal. They want a physical address. The same problem exists with your vehicle registrations.

2. If you change your voter registration address with the County, the same issues will come up.

3. Same issue with property tax bills.

Keep in mind these issues are real in California and some other states. They are not major issues in other states such as South Dakota. But I realize changing your state of domicile is not your intent. So what to do.

Even if you get a California PMB for the bulk of your mail, you still have the above issues to deal with from time-to-time.

If you currently have a physical address in CA, and you plan on being in CA most of the time, I would use the "Hold Mail" function of your local Post Office. They will hold mail for 3 to 30 days at a time. You can renew the order via Internet every 30 days if necessary. This way your full time travels in CA are transparent to the State, the County, your medical and vehicle insurance companies, etc.

Or have a relative or trusted friend currently in CA forward your mail.

CA doesn't make it easy to full time, like many other states do.

Chuck

daveola · November 20, 2009, 01:50:16 PM

So - I've done some researching and some thinking, considering the following factors:

1) I'm going to HQ in SF, spending a little more than half the year there.
2) I want to keep my CA drivers license and residency, at least for now, until I see where this fulltiming takes me
3) I need a place to receive packages

It would be great to find a service that offers:

A) Scanning and internet handling of letters for when I'm out of town
B) California street address
C) A place to physically receive packages in SF

I can find a bunch of great services that offer one or two of these things, but not all three (at least not yet).
It would be annoying to get twoservices (and hence two addresses).

I think I could possibly find A&B together and use 'hold mail' for C. Though I have a feeling most merchants and ebay sellers would be uncomfortable with shipping to a post office instead of a street address.

I've found some virtual offices that effectively offer all three, but they are $100 or more per month, whereas it seems there are a number of mailbox forwarding companies that do A for only $10/mo.