Traveling Mailbox is a US-based virtual mailbox provider. It offers a diversified array of services that include real street addresses for you or your business, as well as virtual office services like a local fax number. These services are invaluable for those living abroad but who need an address in the United States to receive postal mail.
While Traveling Mailbox has very competitive prices and looks great on paper, its customer service leaves much to be desired, translating into many low user ratings and negative reviews. On the other hand, most users have nothing bad to say about other aspects of the service. Consequently, signing up for Traveling Mailbox makes sense if you're willing to risk the bad rep in exchange for lower prices and limitless cloud storage.
What is Traveling Mailbox?
Traveling Mailbox is a virtual mailbox provider founded in 2011 by Travis Poole with a vision to allow individuals, travelers, RVers, expats, small businesses, and others to view their postal mail online from anywhere around the world. Traveling Mailbox lists its mail scanning, forwarding, and check deposit services as its top features for its users.
With over a decade of experience in the industry, Traveling Mailbox is one of the first few companies in the virtual mailbox industry. Their experience shows with the number of features they offer, backed by state-of-the-art security that gives users the peace of mind that their mail and packages are in good hands. The service also integrates with several platforms, such as Dropbox and Google Drive, to help users manage their mail efficiently.
Features Of Traveling Mailbox
#1 Online mail management
When you sign up for Traveling Mailbox, and they receive your mail, they first scan the outside of your mail. You then receive an email notification, after which you can open and scan it, shred it, forward it or send it to an integrated platform such as Google Drive.
Traveling Mailbox provides many options for managing physical mail so that users can feel as if it were in their own hands. If you choose to scan the contents of the mail, Traveling Mailbox will open your postal mail and upload it online in PDF format. You can then view your mail anytime you want through any device.
Not only that, but you can also sort scanned mail into various folders to keep your mail organized and separate your important mail from unnecessary junk.
#2 Mail and package forwarding
Often, shoppers can't purchase or even view a product because it's unavailable for shipping to their state or country. For these circumstances, Traveling Mailbox offers forwarding services that allow you to buy from online stores such as eBay, Amazon, and Target and then have the packages shipped to your address no matter where it is around the world.
Traveling Mailbox makes the process extremely easy and efficient for its users. All you need to do is:
- Sign up to Traveling Mailbox and get a US street address of your choice.
- Sign in to the eCommerce website where you want to purchase as you usually would.
- Add the virtual street address provided by Traveling Mailbox as your delivery address.
- Start purchasing the items they want.
Once Traveling Mailbox receives your packages, you can view the shipping label online and tell Traveling Mailbox where you want them forwarded.
Mail forwarding also works similarly; the only difference is that you must fill out and submit the USPS form 1583 to have your mail forwarded.
#3 Software integrations
The most innovative feature of Traveling Mailbox is its integration with major software platforms such as Google Drive and Dropbox, allowing users to upload their scanned mail onto their preferred cloud storage to back it up.
Besides third-party integrations, Traveling Mailbox offers in-house software integrations, such as their Send-A-Fax and Mail-A-Letter integrations.
The former allows you to get a free local fax number from which you can receive faxes, and the latter will enable you to upload online documents and letters that Traveling Mailbox can print and deliver to an address as mail.
Finally, Traveling Mailbox also provides a Business Associate Agreement, or BAA, in the Extended Plan or better, which ensures that your private information stays intact and safe.
#4 Check deposit
Depositing checks in the bank is a tedious task; it can sometimes take more than one trip to the bank to complete. When you sign up for Traveling Mailbox, depositing your checks is one less thing to worry about because they deposit any checks you get in the mail for you. All users need to do is log into their account, choose the bank account they wish to send the check to, and Traveling Mailbox will handle the rest of the process.
The best thing about this feature is that it is available on all plans. Traveling Mailbox charges $5 + postage to send your check to your bank account. However, this is well worth the money because Traveling Mailbox always prioritizes check deliveries and ensures they are delivered within a day.
#5 High-level security
The most significant advantage Traveling Mailbox offers against its competition is its security. Since their inception, the privacy and security of the users' data and mail have always been Traveling Mailbox's top priority. The company guarantees that your private information will remain confidential.
Each package is given a barcode that is scanned each time the package is touched in the facility. Their facilities are also made secure by constant video surveillance all over the place. Traveling Mailbox's staff has explicit orders never to handle anyone's mail unless they get explicit permission. It's also worth knowing that Traveling Mailbox is completely HIPAA compliant, and users can get a BAA contract if they choose the extended plan.
#6 QuickScan and junk filter
Suppose you are in a hurry and can't wait to receive mail that has already arrived at your package processing facility. In that case, the QuickScan service can ensure your package gets top priority. This ensures that your mail gets scanned first as soon as it reaches the facility. The service is so quick that users can get their scanned mail within minutes of its arrival.
Traveling Mailbox also offers intuitive ways to get rid of any junk mail. All you need to do is mark your mail as junk mail, and Traveling Mailbox will shred it immediately. This saves you tons of hassle when trashing your mail manually piece by piece.
Pros & Cons Of Traveling Mailbox
Pros
- Integrations with major cloud-based platforms such as Google Drive and Evernote and their proprietary software such as Send-A-Fax that add flexibility and extra features.
- Traveling Mailbox provides unlimited cloud storage to all users for scanned envelopes and PDF images in your online Mailbox for free until you delete them or close your account.
- Traveling Mailbox offers considerable discounts on package forwarding thanks to their bulk deliveries.
- Dedicated Android (rated 3.5/5) and iOS (rated 2.8/5) apps help users access the website from the comfort of their smartphones or other devices.
- Good check deposit service receives checks on your behalf and automatically sends them to a bank account of your choice.
- If you upload your mail or documents on your account, Traveling Mailbox can send the mail on your behalf, saving you time and effort for going to your local post office and doing it yourself.
- Their live customer support is available all day, seven days a week through live chat, phone at 855-749-1737/919-561-6631, or email at [email protected].
- High levels of security with video surveillance on their mailing facilities, with full HIPAA compliance and barcoding of each package to promote additional protection for your mail.
Cons
- Out of all the virtual mailbox providers we have reviewed so far, Traveling Mailbox has received the worst customer reviews on Trustpilot and G2, with an average consumer rating of 2.5-3/5 stars.
- While the customer service is active throughout the week, several male customer support agents have been reported to be quite unhelpful and rude with a ‘no can-do' attitude when solving user problems.
- The mobile apps, both Android and iOS, lack dedicated features and a good UI and are, therefore, quite difficult to use for most users.
- Traveling Mailbox is known to deliver low-quality or partial scans at some of their mailing facilities, which can leave and blur out important information necessary for forwarding the mail or package.
- Traveling Mailbox is also known to charge hidden markup fees for packages that are more than the predicted quote, which raise costs at the last minute.
Pricing
| Basic | Extended | Small business | Enterprise Tier 1 | |
| Incoming mail limit | 40 | 100 | 200 | 500 |
| Page scan limit | 35 | 80 | 180 | 500 |
| Maximum recipients | 3 | 5 | 10 | Unlimited |
| Leftover scans roll over to next month? | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Cost | $15/month | $25/month | $55/month | $99/month |
Traveling Mailbox's most popular plan is their Extended plan, which comes at a standard price of $25/month and offers up to 100 emails, from which 80 pages can be scanned and can be used by a maximum of 5 recipients. Apart from the basic plan, all plans allow rolling over leftover scans from one month to the next.
Besides that, however, each plan upgrade only adds to your account's incoming mail and scan limits. It's important to know that several of the additional available features come with a fee. This includes:
- $5 + postage fee for depositing checks.
- $2 + postage for shipping mail
- $0.25 and $0.50 for scanning the outside and contents of the mail
Lastly, Traveling Mailbox offers a full refund for your subscription if you feel unsatisfied with their service.
Traveling Mailbox offers a pretty good deal for the features and services you get. It is not the cheapest or most affordable virtual mailbox in the market, mind you, but it can be a more cost-effective solution, depending on how you use it.
Traveling Mailbox: Is It The Best Option For You?
On paper, Traveling Mailbox seems like one of the best virtual mailbox providers out there. It has several advantages, like a decade of industry experience, a customer support team that works all week, a high level of security, several useful software integrations for users, and substantial shipping discounts. What's more, these advantages and features come at a pretty respectable price point which most users shouldn't have a problem paying.
However, when you go online and start looking into how they actually do business, you'll realize something is clearly wrong with the company. Traveling Mailbox has the worst customer reviews out of all the virtual mailbox providers we have reviewed so far, gathering up an average consumer rating of no more than 2-3 stars on most review platforms.
Users have complained heavily about how dismissive and rude their customer support is when resolving user problems. According to reviews, the service itself is quite uncaring for its users, with most users being told they should cancel their account since Traveling Mailbox can't help them.
That said, while its customer service has received plenty of bad rep, no one has said anything negative about the company's actual service, security, and the features they offer. So, it's entirely up to you whether the lousy customer reviews are worth the risk.
If you're looking for a much better-rated virtual mailbox provider that offers great features similar to Traveling Mailbox's and stands out from the crowd by offering 2,500+ different street addresses, we suggest iPostal1 instead. Read our iPostal1 review to learn more, or click on the button below to sign up and try it for 30 days before deciding if it's the right choice for you.
In Summary
Traveling Mailbox packs many innovative features and perhaps the best security in the virtual mailbox industry. It also adds services catered to those looking for a virtual office, like your dedicated local fax number and check deposits. Unfortunately, their bad customer service offsets these benefits to a large extent. Traveling Mailbox is only worth a try if you sign up knowing this risk.
Traveling Mailbox FAQs
Is Traveling Mailbox good?
No. Traveling Mailbox is not good because despite its great features and top-notch security, its customer service is quite poor, and the company has received very negative reviews online.
Is Traveling Mailbox HIPAA compliant?
Yes. Traveling Mailbox is fully HIPAA compliant, and the company even offers a BAA if you choose any plan above their Extended Plan.
How much does Traveling Mailbox cost?
Traveling Mailbox costs between $15/month to $99+/month, depending on your chosen plan.
Is Traveling Mailbox safe?
Yes. Traveling Mailbox is safe because its facilities are protected by video surveillance, its staff is well-trained and constantly overseen, and each piece of mail's barcode is scanned every time it is handled.
