Lessons Learned: UPS Mailbox vs. PO Box July 7, 2016 08:00 68 Comments

This article was written in 2016. USPS has dramtically changed since then for PO boxes for now having physical addresses and delivery of UPS and Fedex with restrictions for UPS/Fedex.I ditched USPS for a reason starting 2020. They lost my packages. I live in Texas and USPS has gone downhill. I got a UPS box this year and have not taken a loss on packages that were lost. Specially priority mail. Who could actually lost the package? Also their insurance claims for USPS is horrid. If they made a mistake they will still side with themselves even though tracking shows package was sent back and was never received.

So yea I went with UPS for a higher premium. The loss of 1 package was enough to be more expensive. I paid 168 for 9 months compare to 112 or so for 1 year with UPS. 1 package loss cost me 100 dollars and lost my claim because they will not listen to you anymore. They are losing money badly while UPS and Fedex does a better job.

Remember, this article was written in 2016 so features for a PO Box was not there at the time.

Great article and appreciate the comments. As a result, I signed up for a PO Box with the post office. The prices are much less expensive than the UPS store. Also, they gave me a street address to use for parcel deliveries. Paid a year in advance and no set-up fee. Plus their lobby for the PO Boxes is open 24×7 and 365 days a year. Thanks for all the comments and feedback for both companies. Very helpful in making a decision.

My experience with ups store in Decatur Al was awful plus expensive. The employees there throws away mail especially if they thinks it’s junk mail. It’s true. They told me so. I thought it is illegal to throw away people mail.
I am using the Post Office. So much cheaper. I have a street address and they do accept ups and FedEx packages.

I highly recommend it and not UPS store. The employees are AWFUL

This article is accurate! I have used both USPS and UPS Store. Pros and cons for both but ultimately UPS stores are more convenient for my needs. Keep in mind that each UPS Store is individually owned since this is a franchise so pricing and rules vary so do your research!

The USPS in my area (NY and NJ) only offers a PO Box address so my bank can not accept this which is super inconvenient and I had to use my home address. Since I manage a rental building, I don’t want tenants or vendors to know my home address so online check writing is out of the question for me since my bank prints address on file on these checks. No mail forwarding is a minus since there are times I can’t make it to the box during their designated times and I don’t have this option like UPS does. Anyone physically dropping off mail at your specific USPS P.O. Box doesn’t require postage which is a plus for sender.

UPS is far more expensive but I plan on changing back to one as soon as my year expires at the Post Office. I need these conveniences!

TO: WENDY ON MARCH 10, 2020 22:32

This article is not “lies” or a plug for competitors as you say. You are assuming prices are identical around the country. They are not. “PO Box prices are all different depending on the location and the size. If you’re looking for a postal box in an area that has less demand for the box, you will pay less. You can check PO Box pricing and availability online at USPS.”
https://www.usps.com/manage/po-boxes.htm

I used our local UPS store for a personal PO box for years while I lived in a very large apt building (for package delivery 2004 -2010), and never had one problem with them. These are franchises though, and depending on the owner, I could see where there might be problems with some of them. I am now back in a large apt building and the USPS just leaves packages by the mailboxes if no one is in the office. They don’t even have the courtesy to buzz your apt, so I am going to get a PO box again at the same store.

Total and complete nonsense, start to finish. Are you being paid by UPS to peddle these lies?

Lie #1: The USPS will give you a street address if you have a PO Box. You use the USPS street address of the station where you get your PO Box mail, and add your box number to that street address like an apartment. Nobody will know that it’s not a PO Box address. They’ve been doing this for over a decade now, and only complete morons, or obvious liars say otherwise.

Lie #2: The USPS will accept packages that weren’t sent by USPS, and have for years now. I get my Amazon Prime orders at the same address as the rest of my box mail. I get packages from UPS as well. And I get those services by using the above step of making my PO Box a street address.

Lie #3: The USPS provides temporary mail forwarding, and has for, well, decades. You fill out the change of address form and check the box that says—DUH It’s been on the form since at least the 80s, when I had to use it for a military TDY. It can be done for up to six months, and they don’t charge you for it. I can’t remember the name of it, but there’s also a special service where they will collect up all of your mail and forward it to wherever you are by Priority mail for a fee. You only need to go to a USPS and, you know, actually talk to someone at the counter for how it works. They’ve been doing this for at least 15 years that I know of, because my mother had them do it back then when she had to work cross country for a while.

So try again with your obvious dishonest nonsense.

Just found this excellent write up. Definitely worth the read and the shared experience. I am setting up a small company also and just setup my UPS address. Thanks for the tips!

Ken

Love this! You just saved me! I’m glad that I read this…

Thank you so much for sharing your experiences! This is exactly what I was looking for since I am faced with the same decision. I almost went with a P.O. Box because it was cheaper but it makes sense why. It’s also good to consider the type of business you have. Thanks again!

The cost for a United States Post Office PO Box is $34 for 3 months, not $90 as stated in the article. They also allow real street addresses.

This article is a false plug for UPS Store. I called UPS Store twice this morning to rent a mailbox, no pricing on web site, and nobody answers the phone.

Nice try UPS Store!!!

THIS ARTICLE LIES.

Beware. UPS boxes have limits to how many packages you can receive a month.

For example I had a small box and did not know there was a 15 package per month limit.

60 packages in 1 month (Holiday season and all) and they won’t let me retrieve package until I upgrade to a office plan (only receiving personal items) or pay $300 in overage.

What? Why couldn’t they tell me I was over after I was over 15. I’ve had many UPS boxes around the country. Never had a limit enforced.

So beware. Every UPS store has a quirk. It’s up to you to find it. My overall experience so far:

1. Stole items that were returned.
2. Hidden fee happy enforcing rules other stores don’t bother to enforce.
3. New UPS stores sometimes don’t have a real address yet so packages get messed up for months.
4. Uninformed staff all around.
5. Never ship out on a Saturday unless it’s going out on Saturday. When a package is left over weekend (and UPS is closed Sunday) packages go missing. Strange indeed.

Hey I was searching for some of the articles regarding post forward. Than i came to this article which cleared my many doubts. It helped me to get some answers which are important but i didn’t had that questions in my mind. Let me thank you once again for this wonderful article.

UPS seemed to be worth the extra money on all counts until today. I have used their service for a year now. Two packages from different companies, delivered and received at the UPS store on different days, simply vanished when I went to pick them up. Since there were slips for them in my mailbox , they were certainly delivered to the UPS store. Now I am stuck between vendors, who in their defense did their job and insured the packages arrived safely at the destination, and UPS who, “will investigate”. I am not ready to throw the baby out, since this is the first time it has been this bad in nearly a year , but it appears I’ve just lost several hundred dollars and all everyone can do is look at me, and investigate, of course.

Watch out for the UPS Store boxes! I had one for over 10 years and for no reason at all (I think they wanted to be able to charge a lot more and with clients who were there already they couldn’t increase the fee as much probably), they gave my box to someone else and didn’t even notify me. My key even still worked and everything and for a few months I was going to my box and checking for mail and the box was empty sometimes and other times it had my magazines but no checks.

Why no checks? They were sending my mail back undeliverable to everyone who sent regular mail. When this all blew up they claimed I didn’t pay them on time? I don’t think so! I showed them the invoice I received and bills paid, etc., and the guy there just said, “Sorry, your box belongs to someone else!”
I asked him if that someone else knew that my key still worked? The other workers giggled and he became embarrassed but that was it. I lost my box and still to this day, they won’t forward my mail AND the USPS will not allow mail to be forwarded from the UPS Store to my address.

That’s the most important point here. I cannot have the mail forwarded. They are supposed to forward the mail and they just didn’t and don’t.

I’m reading this 2 years after you posted it and I find it is so informative! I don’t even want to check my local options. I’m going UPS Store. Thanks for taking the time to give us a list of considerations when checking out our own locations.

I’ve had a USPS PO Box for years.

- Cost: ~$8.83/month paid biannually (or annually)
- Availability: 24-hour box access
- Street addressing: automatic for all customers, no separate registration
- Oversize handling: mail deposited in a larger, separate box (24-hour oversize box access)
- Distance from my residence: 3 miles away

Lines are irrelevant at my USPS location because the box area is an attached but separate building.

My USPS location is also a major processing facility for a major metro, so YMMV around the country.

Thank you so much for leaving the detailed feedback! It’s exactly what I needed and helped me make my decision to go with UPS! Much appreciated.

My UPS Store just upped my annual payment for a small box from $144 to $300, so I am out of there. I found a USPS PO Box for $112 annually and the box is 5.5 X 11 (3x the size of my UPS box) so I only have to drive there 1x a month (110 miles round trip). I found many inaccuracies in the comments above. I realize I am taking a chance with USPS, but for me the unknown is better than the known. Last but not least, there is a UPS employee that is really nasty and I will be glad to be rid of her!

I have used the USPS Mailbox for 8 years. No premium payment, but I have the physical address option (we kept getting packages stolen off our porch). I have never had a problem with any type of delivery. Packages that are too big for the box go into a keyed locker and the key is put in my box. If the package is too big for the lock box, then I have to pick it up at the counter during regular hours, although I often ring the service buzzer and am given my package, thereby avoiding long lines. I feel your pain about the postal workers acting that way. Maybe I just got lucky with our location.

I’m going through the same thing but for me USPS keeps putting my packages in the wrong box so it takes days after delivery for the package to show up. I do have the premium service on my box so I can use a real street address but the workers there don’t like it and always tell me to use my PO box. Plus they won’t accept UPS shipments even though online says they do with “Premium” but the workers again don’t think they have to.

I’m looking into a UPS mailbox, since I do most of my shipping with them anyway i’m there daily until I get a weekly pickup scheduled.

Thanks for this article! very helpful.

As a multiple time box holder, there are some factual inaccuracies in both the article AND people’s posts. So let me contribute my experience.

First, it is true that USPS offers “physical” address. Problem is that this is not available at all USPS locations, they have to support “Premium” (which costs nothing). Not all do. ALL UPS stores offer physical address. SCORE: UPS 1, USPS 0.

Second, it is true that USPS, assuming a Premium Address, accepts all sorts of packages from all sorts of carriers. Problem is that you’re still held hostage to USPS’ package handling. They do accept all sizes, but the hours of availability widely vary from location to location. UPS, as long as you get there during business hours, you’re getting your package in seconds. SCORE: UPS 2, USPS 0.

Third, USPS is generally open very limited hours on Saturday. UPS Store is open 9 to 5 in almost every store. SCORE: UPS 3, USPS 0.

Fourth, USPS generally has lines out the door for silly things if they don’t have a separate package area (which many don’t). UPS has lines, but you’re talking 4 people at the most and they’re usually quick with service. SCORE: UPS 4, USPS 0.

Fifth, USPS doesn’t care to have abundant locations if it’s not a major metro. I’m in a state capital and the nearest one is at least 5 miles away, which is a joke, compared to UPS Store where you almost always find one in strip malls. SCORE: UPS 5, USPS 0.

Sixth, USPS Informed Delivery is fundamentally useless since all it can do is notify you of things. They don’t scan packages and the delivery instructions are ignored if they feel like it. UPS can notify you about package arrival, and if it’s a UPS package, their app has the same instructions PLUS the driver is required to actually do what you tell them. SCORE: UPS 6, USPS 0.

Seventh, USPS only guarantees delivery for their highest priced package option. UPS guarantees delivery for everything Ground and above. SCORE: a blowout for UPS.

Ultimately, while USPS is adding all of these catchup features, they’re still fundamentally flawed until they get to a point that Informed Delivery becomes a requirement for the carrier – if I tell you to leave at the door, you have NO CHOICE but leave it at the door. Until they fix that, I strongly recommend avoiding anything USPS.

UPS stores increase the cost of the small boxes every year from $20 to $40
I have been a customer in VA, GA, FL and it bugs me that pricing isn’t transparent (can’t visit website and not posted in stores for anyone to see).

The largest increase i’ve had is $40 on renewal day and the smallest is $20. i’m about to start using one of the virtual address services. The prices i’ve seen so far are half the cost of ups store with pictures of mail and forwarding options.

For people that run e-businesses that don’t expect to get a lot of large mail, virtual mailbox services are more practical and economical. I average maybe 30 pieces of REAL mail (not junk mail) a YEAR. With virtual mailbox i can pick what to forward me. Depending on how often i need something forwarded, the cheapest address i’ve seen plus forwarding shouldn’t cost more than $150 a year

Thanks for a nice article. Here are 6 points to consider.
1 You clearly stated that you were only referring to the services at your location. Nevertheless, some posters still questioned your facts, because they were different in their location. So your must check the details in your own area.
2 The USPS does have a program for street addressing for PO boxes. But here again, that is not available in all areas. However, where not available your post master “may” informally allow you to use their street address. Some will allow and some won’t.
3 The UPS stores are notorious for changing ownership and the norm is that you will often experience “major” mail problems with little forewarning. A smooth transfer is rare, don’t expect it! This is of particular concern to those who have their mail forwarded.
4 Both these services have their own shortcomings and the better choice will depend on your own circumstances and what is offered in your area. Also, your area should include every post office and US Store that is convenient to you.
5 Do not treat the arrangement as a marriage. Nothing in life is permanent and you may be “forced” to change your address sometime in the further.
6 Technically, the most expensive service is the post box. The USPS saves money on all mail it doesn’t need to deliver to a physical address and should be paying the box holder. But instead, we are expected to pay them for saving them the expense of said delivery.

Thank you for the article. The biggest reason I am going with UPS Store is this simple thing directly from USPS website -

What do I need to know about PO Box™ delivery?

General guidelines

Private shipping companies or carriers, such as UPS, FedEx and Amazon, are not able to deliver to (place mail in) a PO Box. Only the United States Postal Service® is permitted to deliver mail to (place mail in) a PO Box.

Hey everyone,
Don’t forget about USPS’s free “Informed Delivery” service. They will scan your mail “FOR FREE!” before delivering it to you and e-mail you a copy.

Thus, if you have a PO box and sign up, you can get e-mails letting you know when things will be delivered.
Check it out!

Thank you so much!

Your information is very case specific. All of the USPS I have used have 24 hour lobbies to retrieve mail from. USPS offers premium services that negate UPS advantages. USPS accepts other delivery methods. Using a UPS store as a physical address for banking, federal and state document isn’t exactly legal. Anyway, I appreciated the comparison to but for the price and my needs the Post Office and I are a great match.

Great article, however, there’s a lot of inaccurate information:
USPS does offer a real street address – instead of the word “suite” they use either “unit” or “#” in front of the number. USPS is 50%-70% less expensive for the same services mentioned and in most cases additional services are provided for free. USPS offers more sizes than UPS. USPS Premium PO Boxes Service offers Signature on File for Free. Keys are included free with USPS and No deposit required for first 2 keys. UPS charges $5 per key. You also stated that USPS doesn’t accept other carriers, NOT TRUE. We get packages from FedEx and UPS all the time. If mail or package doesn’t fit or if box is full, with USPS, it will be held at the Post Office location for up to 30 days. At our location, they have larger boxes, they store items in and leave a key to our box w/ a note letting us know we have additional mail or package. UPS holds and forwards but THERE’S ALWAYS A FEE. USPS holds mail if you’re unable to p/u if you’re out of town, for up to 30 days. USPS doesn’t offer free forwarding for P.O. Boxes, but does have a Forwarding FEE of $18.45 to enroll online & $20.10 per week of service. USPS Premium PO Boxes Service offers Free Alerts – Call-in; Smartphone alerts and Informed Delivery® by USPS®; Digitally preview your mail & manage packages scheduled to arrive. It allows us to view greyscale images of the exterior, address side of letter-sized mailpieces and track packages. UPS offers only Call-in and smartphone alerts. USPS stamps are at cost. UPS Stamps are cost + an additional store fee markup. Most shipping supplies such as envelopes and boxes are free. Again, UPS charges fees for everything. Hours of Operation for USPS, depending on location, most are 6am-5:30pm M-F, and 6am-12pm on Saturdays, however, some locations have 24/7 access and extended hours in others for FREE. If you want 24-hr (p/u anytime after hours) with UPS, you have to pay a fee of $25. With USPS, if you decide to close your P.O. Box, they hold still applies for free and as long as it’s a residential address, they’ll forward your mail until you complete the change of address form for up to 30 days for FREE. If you close the account with UPS they DO NOT hold or forward, it’s gone forever.

Thank you very much for sharing your experience. This is very helpful!

Thanks for the info. Very informative. Im a truck driver over the road. I’m single so I don’t maintain a home when I take tine off I go rent a cabin for a couple weeks and relax. I’ve been using a family members house to get mail for tears. But often times gets misplaced as I dont get down there often. But the company I work for is out of dallas texas and my personal car is parked at our terminal there. I’ve been looking for a option and didn’t want a PO box because many places like my bank require a street address not a PO box. So this answered a lot of questions for me. Thanks for taking the time to write it.

You are referring your post regarding a regular USPS PO Box, but what about the Premium PO Box Services? Seems like they have the same benefits as UPS. Any thoughts on that? Thanks in advanced

This was so helpful! Thank you for the details and thorough comparison. You saved me a lot of time and money.

This may not be a hard copy letter of encouragement but digital note that you were very helpful today! Thank you for sharing!

I have had several packages lost that should be delivered to my PO Box. A few of them were marked delivered. I will be changing to a box at my local UPS store next month after 3 years with a PO Box.

Thanks for the post. I am just in the same situation of choosing between a cheaper PO Box and a UPS mailbox. Your insight made my decision a lot easier. I am going with the UPS mailbox…

Thanks for this very informative article. This is very helpful.

Thanks for sharing this info! Very helpful to determine pros vs. cons, and cost vs. quality service.

Just a note, Geico refuses mailbox rental locations as “not a multi-unit location” or something like that.

If you’re not a UPS-owned or managed store tryna subtle up and stuff, I shall eat crow.

My understanding is if your US Post Office’s physical address is

and you rent from them a P.O. Box, say P.O. Box 226, then you could use the following mailing address:

So the USPS PO Box is cheaper AND you get to utilize the prestigious affiliation of Wilmington Street for cheap.

Ain’t it so?

Thank you for your insightful post, however I can’t help but feel I might be screwed using either or.
None the less your post and the above comments were helpful I’ll keep researching…

Thank you! This was very helpful. It’s always easy to figure the pros, harder to read between the lines and see the cons.

Thank you sooooo much for sharing this information. I have started a small biz & want a PO Box for many of the same reasons you listed. I think I’m going to have to suck it up & pay the higher rate.

Thanks again!

if the gov. only allows a physical address then do you use your home address for the IRS and what about you LLC.

I had a P.O. Box at the post office in my small-town in Alabama (about 9,000 people) and the post office lost/misplaced my mail more than once and I would regularly receive other box holders mail, even received someone’s bank statement once. A lot of people here complain about our post office and it falls on deaf ears, probably true with UPS since they are independently owned.

On the other hand, shipping envelopes and boxes are free from USPS and the UPS store has a big mark-up on this stuff, nothing is free from the UPS store, and like someone else posted they can be very nosy to the point of privacy invasion – beyond anything required by DHS.

This was very helpful. Thank you. My hangup with USPS was the P.O. box but was hoping that had changed since my younger days. And I do believe that UPS would handle my mail better than USPS, sad but true. Thanks again.

Thank you so much for posting this information! It is greatly appreciated.

Hi,

We’ve used a USPS box (now in 2 different states) for greater than 8 years. The USPS locations have always let us use their street addresses with "#.xxxx for all mail and packages.

They have delivered our USPS mail, Priority mail and packages, IRS, UPS, DHL, and Fedex packages to our box, held for signature (if needed), placed inside a larger box and put the key in our little box for 24 hour pick-up, and have put notes inside our box if a package was just too big for their keyed boxes.

(They did turn away the furniture delivery team that accidentally received our Mailing Address from their dispatcher.)

All this to say – we’ve never had a problem with the USPS postal box system. And they have never returned or refused a package delivery to us.

Best!

i have a ups box and a fob for after hours. any package that doesn’t fit in your box, you must sign for (at this ups location). if i get a package during the day that doesn’t fit into my box, i need to call them before they close and ask them to leave my package out for me. they leave it out with the slip for me to sign and i leave the slip for them on the counter.

this week i went during business hours to retrieve a package and they made me sign the slip along with the credit card swiper pad for an electronic signature when accepting the package. they said the electronic signature is a new policy.

i did not ask them how an after hours pickup would work when there was no one there to operate the electronic signature.

i am hesitant to ask because i do not want the question going up the chain of command to eventually get to someone who says i can’t have my packages left out anymore. as is, my bet is most will employees just leave them out for me.

i’m wondering what your store’s policy is and if you’ve come across this dilemma. discuss.

Just called around Dallas. Eagle Postal is $17/mo annually or $20/mo m-m. They have the best reviews and 24/7 access. They even hold large packages in a big locked box and put the keys in your mailbox to retrieve after hours! I’m signing up!

My UPS store personnel became very interested in items I was shipping and receiving, very nosey. They decided my legal business was not the kind of business they agreed with and began refusing to ship or recieve anything they didn’t personally like. No amount of pressure via customer service and the 800 number could change this behavior. Final straw was when they asked the local police to open my packages so they could inspect them, which they of course refused to do. The post office isn’t perfect but UPS will always be an unacceptable alternative.

One downside of UPS mailboxes is if/when you decide to get rid of it, you cannot forward your mail from there. It is just lost forever.

I’ve had a PO Box for many years and always received my packages from other carriers, not sure how it works but do know UPS and Fedex Smartpost will deliver to the post office to be delivered to a PO box destination if requested by sender. DHL even delivered a package to the post office to be sent to my PO Box years ago.

Do your own research first to decide what’s best for you.

I’ve just made my decision!! Lol thanks for the information!

Sure….the USPS started accepting packages delivered by UPS and FedEx. Problem wiith that is that the last part of the delivery, will suck, unllike the FedEx and UPS part, who actually care about your business.

My local post office was leaving delivery notices that were incomplete. Some items were returned and sent certified mail and I still don’t know what they were or who sent them.

The post office has heard my concern about not filling out the form properly and now seems to be not leaving notices at all. I had a camera sitting at the USPS for weeks and the box claimed they left a notice (they didn’t) and the second notice, they, in their words, “dropped the ball on” and never provided.

I recently waited for a USPS employee to check for multiple (three) packages that showed as delivered to the post office but missing to me. No notices in box and what do you know? Three packages…including one sent via UPS along with a credit card bill and a financial statement…both sent First Class Mail and in a UPS crate in their sorting room with no efforts to let me know ANY of them had arrived.

Let’s be honest, the United States Post Office doesn’t care about most customers and doing their job correctly.

You get what you pay for…and with the PO Box, they’ll be sure and give you a good deal on their often poor or underwhelming service.

Above, you made a statement about how USPS will not hold a package unless it’s shipped via USPS. That’s 100% not true. I have had many packages sent via UPS and Fedex that did not fit inside my box and they have held it for me.

Fantastic information! Thanks for taking the time to share.

Thanks much for the very informative write up. Very helpful.

For an additional fee my USPS (Post Ofc.) will provide a box with a street address and accept shipments from anyone (UPS, FedEX, etc.).

I have used my UPS Store for mail service for over 4yrs now and have been very happy. Like the review above, my local store owner is more than willing to work with me. I don’t pick up my mail but every 3-7 days and occasionally receive USPS certified letters, some of which are time sensitive. These letters are signed for by the store employee since they are USPS letters. My problem was that I had no idea as to the delivery date since I didn’t sign for it (unlike signing for my UPS & FexEx deliveries at the store). So, we added a process to have the employee write the delivery date on certified letters which eliminates the issue. I’d like to also mention a couple other things: 1)) UPS requires that store managers attend at least 2 days of training every year to ensure they keep up on current regulations, technology, processes & customer service; and 2) the store managers are trained that customer information is private and not provided to anyone except with a warrant.

Great article

Actually searching ,comparing ,reading reviews best review so far thanks for the great article

To SANTHOSH: That still doesn’t change the fact that USPS does not hold and/or sign mails/packages for you

Thank you for such a comprehensive write up. Saved me time and money so I wanted to show you my appreciation! Mahalo!!!

Well, you can still have the address in the UPS format and save your cost. Read this. https://ribbs.usps.gov/mtcsa/documents/tech_guides/PBSACustomerAgreement.pdf

Its called competitive street addressing
https://postalpro.usps.com/competitivepoboxes

Thanks.

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! What a very informative post. I’m sorry to hear that you had to go through all that to figure out what works best. I had read that UPS Stores offered a street address instead of a PO Box number, I was wondering how they did that. Now I know! This is definitely the route I’m going to take for my startup!

Thanks again!
Shawn O’Hara
RustBelt Clothing Co
Rochester, NY

@Evan, at least in the contiguous 48 US states and probably AK, HI, territories (I can’t say for sure), if your private mailbox business (UPS) is already in a suite of their own such as in a strip mall for example, their address may be something like:
123 N Main St
Suite A
City, ST 99999

Legally, your best bet would be to write your address with them as:
123 N Main St
Suite A
PMB# 987
City, ST 99999

but there are some people who I’ve seen type the number as:
Suite A-987

Although this should get delivered, it is not technically an address, since addresses and suites are assigned by the city/local govt and coordinated with the US postal service. There is a huge difference between using this address for mail from customers and shippers and using it as your legal address on forms. Just use caution when filing paperwork used by the government and note special restrictions on “Physical Address”. For example, EIN paperwork requires the business’s physical address.

Thank you for writing this article. Very informative and on point. As someone who spends a lot time working out of the States, I feel the need to rent a mailbox. A privately owned service seems like a no brainer but most companies already have a suit number to with their address. Leaving me to ask my address would look like?