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How to Get a Mailing Address for your Startup

2010
April
3
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U.S. Mail Back when my startups were under the radar, I wanted to display a mailing address on my contact pages, but not my home address, of course. My assumption is that a mailing address gives customers the impression that you have an office somewhere, even though you’re actually working from a folding table in your living room.

Earth Class MailI discovered Earth Class Mail.  They offer a service that gives you a new mailing address, and any mail arriving at that address is automatically opened, scanned, and available for you to read/shred online.  It’s a fine service for constant travelers, recreational vehicle users, and others who are always on the go.  No need for the neighbors to collect your mail for you.

When I signed up in 2007, the pricing was $9.95/month, and I paid yearly.  But I had to cancel last December because the price had doubled.  The basic plan offered is now $19.95/month.  Here are the pricing details.

You can select an address in one of many large US cities, and you may choose a street addresses or a P.O. Box.  To me, a street address is more conducive to a business address.  Street addresses require an additional fee, based on the city.

You may have seen the company featured on MOJO’s “Start-Up Junkies” where they followed the company and its founder through their journey.

So why did I cancel?

I had come out of stealth, and my customers knew that I wasn’t a big company, so even though an address would have been nice to have, it wasn’t really needed to keep up the charade.  And over 2 years no one ever sent a letter.  It was nice having that address, though, in case someone needed to send me something.

Next post: why you should never see a credit card

   

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This entry was posted on Saturday, April 3rd, 2010 at 10:29 am and is filed under Getting Started, Stealth Startups, Tools & Resources. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
  • http://impliedsolutions.com/ tim

    a big thing for the overpriced office buildings to get extra revenue now is the “virtual office.” they give you a mailing address, a phone number with an answering service and often give you X amount of hours per month of office use and meeting room use to show face with your customers in the nice building.

    its substantially less than an office, but still anywhere from $50-$300 a month. companies like Regus and then individual office buildings offer this. i considered offering it from my office in order to reduce some costs, but it never worked out

  • http://www.startupnextdoor.com/ John Washam

    Thanks. I was curious after seeing a Regus commercial recently.