Earth Class Mail – Best Mail Forwarding Service So Get A Ghost Address
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EARTH CLASS MAIL. WOW. As I travel all over the world I have found Earth Class Mail indispensable and a great tool for survivalism in the suburbs. Rarely do I come across a good or service with as much utility and value for the cost. I have now been using Earth Class Mail, the best mail forwarding service I have found, for a few years. I am extremely satisfied and highly recommend this business and personal necessity for many reasons. Earth Class Mail is the ultimate ghost address.
PRIVACY. Perhaps the best benefit is increased privacy along with the time savings and convenience. Next is being able to have a street address in Oregon which assesses no sales tax. For example, if you order a laptop you will pay about $300 in sales tax. Shipped to Oregon you pay nothing! The just use the mail forwarding to receive your letter or package anywhere in the world. Of course, see the section on sales and use tax near the conclusion.
Plus the packages are always delivered so no more waiting around for the Fedex or UPS man. The packages are shipped from Earth Class Mail via Fedex and easily tracked. This can help you become location independent.
CONSTANT ‘GHOST’ ADDRESS. A constant physical address and superb mail anonymity service increases your privacy and helps protect your financial affairs. A contact address in Europe is available including Switzerland, Germany and several other countries. Not only will this protect your privacy and save money but also your FICO score may increase as your location independence is achieved.
MAIL FORWARDING SERVICE
QUICK SHIPMENTS. With this mail forwarding service you are able to determine what goes into each shipment and then mail it anywhere or to anyone via USPS, Fedex or UPS.
REDUCE EXPENSES. When receiving shipments it can often be expensive to be there when the delivery service is. If you miss the delivery then it takes time and money to go pick up the package. Sales tax can also be a substantive and material cost. With a physical address in Beaverton, Oregon 97005 where packages may be signed for, delivered and forwarded via FedEx you can eliminate all of these hassles. Additionally, Oregon does not assess sales or use tax.
BE GREEN. The use of Earth Class Mail reduces the amount of transportation expenses used in delivering your mail. Mail can also be easily and efficiently shredded or recycled. Be green for the environment and save money!
INSURANCE. ID Theft is a major concern. An ounce of prevention can be worth a pound of cure. With Earth Class Mail as your mail forwarding service you do not need to worry about the security of your mailbox. If you are gone for a significant period of time you do not need to get a hold on your mail or worry about it piling up in your box or at the post office. Plus, you are ensured continuity in the event of a disaster. This makes Earth Class Mail a great form of insurance to provide for stable handling of your postal mail.
CONVENIENT. When I first got Earth Class Mail I had a lot of fun with the novelty of receiving and reading my postal mail while being hundreds of miles away. Being location independent was handy but not really essential.
But I did not notice the true value until I was on a trip to South America for a two months. During that time I received a new debit card, a new credit card, lots of paperwork for taxes as it was that time of year and even a few packages. Knowing that all of this was safe and secure while I was thousands of miles away helped me enjoy my trip even more. Even if you do not save on the sales tax aspects with purchases or by avoiding ID Theft there is still this increased benefit of convenience and peace of mind.
JUNK MAIL. Earth Class Mail helps you reduce and eliminate junk mail. They will be implementing processes where they will contact senders you specify to remove you from the list. This saves a lot of time and as we all know time is money!
EASY TO USE INTERFACE. The interface when you login is easy to use and helps save you time by organizing your postal mail like you would organize email.
MINOR DOWNSIDES. There are some minor downsides. The cost of about $20 per month. Plus, scans can be pretty expensive. Currently addresses are only available in the United States. But I am excited about the announcement of overseas addresses such as Switzerland and wish they were operational now. There is a check deposit service but it seems fairly expensive but the fee may be acceptable to establish your location independence. Finally, currently the registered agent service is limited to states where I would not want to be incorporated.
SALES AND USE TAX. States may have a ‘sales & use tax’ you are required to remit even if you make a purchase out of state. Of course, learn and follow all applicable law.
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HELLO, Could you please tell me if you expect a gold price correction before it goes back over $1ooo? THANK YOU
300.00 in sales tax on a computer. You’re joking right??
Walt, I added a picture just for you because it is not a joke!
Hmmm, maybe I’m missing something, but I am surprised you like this service. It’s ok that other people open (and potentially read) your mail? I don’t get it.
Yes, despite my passion for privacy, as I teach on HowToVanish, I love ECM. For example, I am currently in South America for another 3 weeks. I was here three months ago for about a month and put about 3,200 miles on the car.
The employees at ECM only open the mail I request and all have extensive background checks, are in a room with only non-pocketed white overalls, no writing utensils, constant video surveillance, etc. so it is an extremely secure environment. I have received cash in envelopes several times and had no issues. Now I only have to imagine the distracted attention I used to have when worrying about what mail might be in my insecure mailbox. Additionally, I usually know what mail is being sent to me or have a general idea of what is in the envelope before I request it be opened or recycled. Even if opened rarely do I need the physical piece of mail but when I do I can easily forward it anywhere in the world. Assuming there are no huge changes I will likely never need another mailing address again in my life. This can also be very useful if there are any issues of fraud or identity theft because I can show a history of using only this address.
Of course, if some piece of mail is ‘sensitive‘ I usually have it mailed to a different address and received by someone else.
In conclusion, ECM is indispensable for my ‘location independent‘ lifestyle which yields copious amounts of privacy. With this tool it makes absolutely no difference whether I am in NYC, LA, Paris, Hong Kong or the backwoods of South America so long as I have Internet access and can reasonably access a DHL, UPS or Fedex shipment.
Regarding the comment:
“The packages are shipped from Earth Class Mail via Fedex and easily tracked.”
in the “Reduce Expenses” paragraph above, there is a significant problem.
Where I live, Fedex simply dumps packages on the front step, without even ringing the bell. In fact, even overnight delivery letters receive the same treatment.
Complaining to management at my local Fedex office was useless, even after speaking to a manager.
Writing to an executive at Fedex corporate was also ignored.
Sounds like a Fedex issue and not an ECM issue. I often have Fedex shipments go to another ghost address at an office or other place where there is someone at the desk to receive them so as to assure that they do not get left unattended.
Hi Trace,
I am an Executive MBA student at UNC Chapel Hill. I am writing a final paper with 2 other students on Earth Class Mail from a Supply Chain perspective. We are looking specifically at ECM from a Configuration, Coordination, Customization, Commonality, Context & Change perspective today, and how this will/may have to change tomorrow as the company grows, expands the footprint, and competes with the USPS and others. We read your article and were wondering if it may be possible to call you to discuss these concepts as they relate to ECM and learn more about how this organization is configured with processing centers, coordination of activities, etc.
Would you be open to a quick discussion?
Best Regards
Since I travel a lot, I used to use ECM, but when they suddenly doubled their prices about a year and a half ago (from $9.95/mo with some scanning included to $19.95/mo with an extra $1.50/scan), I began searching for another service. Found http://www.mailboxforwarding.com, which provides the same online management and scanning of mail at the price ECM used to – still $9.95/mo and includes 10 pieces of mail scanned at no extra fee.
I contacted them asking about possible price raises, and they said that they have no plans to change the pricing, but even if they did in the future, current customers would be “grandfathered” in, retaining the original rates for the life of their accounts. I’ve been with Mailbox Forwarding for the last year, and their service is fully as good as ECM, at about one-third the price (about the same cost per year as a PO box). No complaints at all. If the idea of online mail intrigues you but the price is keeping you back, check them out!
Looks like a good alternative. Too bad they do not have an OR, NH, MT or AK address to make them cost effective for those with the situation who warrant it.
Good Morning,
I am presently living in Mexico and need to have a mail service company. My health insurance provider will not accept an address out of the country nor a P.O. Box address.
I have several questions that I hope you can help me with:
1) What would the address look like? I had a postal service before that would show an address like this: John Doe, 1225 San Ysidro Blvd., #177, San Ysidro, CA 92173.
Would the address look similar to this?
2) I would be receiving very little mail during the year. Do you have a “Per Item” rate? If not, what would the charge be for a box. Also, would packages be acceptable if it is necessary to rent a box full time?
3) Is there anyway to register by using regular mail service, email or fax? I have a PayPal account and can make payments through them or by debit card?
I hope to hear from you soon and appreciate any help you can offer for finding a solution in this situation.
Donald P. Robinson
Hi Donald,
For your situation I think Earth Class Mail would be perfect. I would recommend the OR street address and it would look just like your example in #1. The fee structure is a hybrid with a flat and then per item depending on what you have done (shipped, scanned, etc.). ECM is not necessarily that cheap but I get great value from it. For #3 you should direct that question and others to Earth Class Mail. Hope that helps.
We have been using ECM for several different ventures for around 4 years now and have been very pleased. It is an expense, yes, but well worth it to us.
I have been more pleased with http://www.travelingmailbox.com than I ever was with ECM. Especially with the price increases at ECM….
Mark, interesting option with Traveling Mailbox but they only have a mailbox in Greenville, SC and they want to to deliver Form 1593 in person with your identification. Does not sound nearly as useful as ECM with their OR address (no sales tax) and being able to setup everything online without physically traveling to an office.
Hi Trace,
Actually that is not the case. I called and spoke with Travis and he confirmed the entire process can be completed online and I can assure you they have FIRST CLASS Customer Service!
I highly recommend you give them a call.
I am wondering how are they making profit. For example, if you make a purchase of a laptop and have it shipped to Oregon address. With you paying $20 a month, and have the package forward to you in South America via Fedex. Don’t ECM have to cough up the difference you paid on your subscription vs the actual cost they paid to ship the package from Oregon to South America?
Kevin, you pay the cost of shipping any packages plus a handling fee of about $1 per item. So to ship 8 letters and a package from OR to CA or FL will cost about $15-20. I am not sure how much the shipping from OR to South America would be. But they pretty much charge only cost and make their profit with the handling fee which I think is reasonable.
I see. So your subscription fees do not cover the cost of them forwarding the package to you when you were oversea, right?
Kevin, right. They have a page about fees on their website that outlines them all. When you ship a package you can choose several different options such as overnight, 2nd day, ground, etc. with Fedex, UPS, USPS, etc.
I just noticed that Traveling Mailbox now has addresses in San Diego and Tallahassee. That is pretty cool for the folks who want to avoid the sales tax thing……
It’s a petty no service forwards via DHL, that is the less expensive carrier to ship worldwide.
I also dumped ECM a year ago after price increase, but now it seems the other followed the flock, they are charging $15…
Nice post BTW.
What about http://www.virtualpostmail.com? Does anybody here use it?
I have not used them. Looks like the only address is in Los Angeles, CA.
Correct LA it is.
Ok, I’m signing up with http://travelingmailbox.com thanks to this page. Best value ;)
Hello Trace,
I recently saw an interview you did about bitcoin – very informative.
I have a question regarding this ECM article. What states would you want to incorporate in?
Thanks,
Max
Max, not sure what ECM has to do with where you want to incorporate. New Mexico LLCs are a good general purpose entity.
Did you see the show Start Up Junkies? It’s on Hulu, the first episode is about Earth Class Mail!
Kyle, yes, I saw that episode. It was pretty cool!
Where you said, “Not only will this protect your privacy and save money but also your FICO score may increase as your location independence is achieved.” Can you please elaborate on that? Thanks.
Steven, the FICO score may increase because the length of time at an address is a factor in determining the score. Since you would be using the same ghost address then over time this would become a longer time than if you were switching addresses when moving, etc.
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