PO Box price now over £300/year! - alternatives?

[GreatMarko]

Hi All,
So I've just had a renewal invoice through from the Royal Mail for my PO Box, and couldn't believe the price has now gone up to over £300/year (£303.60 to be precise!) - which is a five-fold price increase in the 4 years since I setup my business - It's extortionate!!

I'm just wondering if anyone knows of any similar alternatives? ...preferably ones that will automatically redirect to a physical address, rather than having to go somewhere to collect?

I'd be grateful for any recommendations!?

 

[PH2012]

Where are you based?

 

[GreatMarko]

Where are you based?

Manchester

 

[PH2012]

I use Keepoint for my post requirements and they have an address in Manchester (they charge £20 per month plus postage). If you're interested let me know as i'll get a fiver off next month if you sign up.

 

[FirstClassVirtualOffice]

If you need a Manchester address then there are some virtual offices around that area. We are in Doncaster so maybe not want you're wanting unless the address doesn't matter.

 

[OldWelshGuy]

Hi All,
So I've just had a renewal invoice through from the Royal Mail for my PO Box, and couldn't believe the price has now gone up to over £300/year (£303.60 to be precise!) - which is a five-fold price increase in the 4 years since I setup my business - It's extortionate!!

I'm just wondering if anyone knows of any similar alternatives? ...preferably ones that will automatically redirect to a physical address, rather than having to go somewhere to collect?

I'd be grateful for any recommendations!?

There are plenty of London addresses available and some up north for a decent rate.

 

[GreatMarko]

I use Keepoint for my post requirements and they have an address in Manchester (they charge £20 per month plus postage). If you're interested let me know as i'll get a fiver off next month if you sign up.

Thanks - I've had a look at their website, sadly pricing information is a little hard to come by on it, but going off what you said that it's £20/month (i.e. £240/year) "plus postage" - do you know what their "plus postage" charges are like to forward on received mail to my real address? i.e. is it just standard Royal Mail 1st/2nd class postage costs, or do they charge a bit more?

Obviously £240/year is better than £303/year for a PO Box... but it all depends on what Keepoints "plus postage" charges are!?

 

[GreatMarko]

If you need a Manchester address then there are some virtual offices around that area. We are in Doncaster so maybe not want you're wanting unless the address doesn't matter.

Thanks for the info, and I've had a look at your site - £95/year seems very reasonable! ...and "You only pay for Royal Mail postage costs" for "plus postage" seems good!

...I think the only thing that puts me off would be having my virtual address at an airport! - Now, I can see this being quite appealing to businesses who perhaps ship tangible goods worldwide, etc, but for my business (which is half technical consulting / half software development)... an airport address doesn't really fit.

Its a shame you don't have any other locations.

 

[PH2012]

Marko

They only charge the cost of posting - mine currently costs me 90p per week as I request my post is only sent once a week.

 

[GreatMarko]

Marko

They only charge the cost of posting - mine currently costs me 90p per week as I request my post is only sent once a week.

Many thanks for the additional info! So by my rough calculations then, the yearly cost for Keepoint would be in the region of around £286.80/year (based on £20/month plus £0.90/week)

...which is only around £16 cheaper than the £303/year for a Royal Mail PO Box.... still, it's an alternative, so I appreciate your suggestion!

 

[Root 66 Woodshop]

Do you outsource an accountant? - Could you not have all mail sent their instead - I know that accountants usually offer this service, and If it's close by you can pick up your own mail at your own convenience.

Another saving from your friendly neighbourhood Security Advisor!

 

[Storage King]

Have a look at Mail Boxes Etc
http://www.mbe.co.uk/

 

[FirstClassVirtualOffice]

Most of our clients are nothing to do with shipping/logistics. As it's a professional serviced office based on airport land, not actually within the terminal of course, so it suits almost any business.

By the way, Accountants offer a registered office service and do not (mostly anyway) want to deal with all of their clients mail, e.g. they only accept mail from HMRC and Companies House addressed to the client.

Be careful to Google any prospective virtual address so you can see what you're getting.

 

[GreatMarko]

Have a look at Mail Boxes Etc

Yeah, I'd already looked at Mail Boxes Etc - their prices are even more expensive than Royal Mail's!

For a 12 month business box rental, MBE charge £312/year PLUS "£3.50 (plus materials, postage/courier costs)" for mail forwarding!

 

[Chris Ashdown]

Why does the Great Marco want to hide his real address?

 

[GreatMarko]

Why does the Great Marco want to hide his real address?

Because the GreatMarko (with a K not a C!) runs his own business from home, and has had a PO Box for several years, which is used to protect his residential address and give a more professional image (yes, yes, I'm aware that you can look up a PO Box to determine the real address, etc, etc)

I'm sure it's not that unusual for Sole Traders/small business/self-employed people to have a PO Box for the same reasons, so I'm a little bemused by your question, Chris(!)

 

[TODonnell]

Many businessmen use virtual offices, mail forwarding, redirected telephone numbers and the like. Many landlords won't let you register a company name at your home address. So what do you do? You use another address. We offer them in London.

Also, in the internet era, where 'everything is online', you may not want undesirable people doorstepping you at home, especially if you have a family.

P.O. Boxes are also used by larger, established businesses for particular promotions and sideline enterprises.

 

[wayzgoose]

I thought a PO Box address was against e-commerce regulations?

 

[GreatMarko]

Many landlords won't let you register a company name at your home address.

This isn't an issue though if you own the home and/or are a Sole Trader and therefore are not registered with Companies House(!)

 

[GreatMarko]

I thought a PO Box address was against e-commerce regulations?

How so?????

 

[wayzgoose]

Thought I'de seen it:

http://www.oft.gov.uk/shared_oft/business_leaflets/general/oft913.pdf

Page 6.

 

[Scott-Copywriter]

...I think the only thing that puts me off would be having my virtual address at an airport! - Now, I can see this being quite appealing to businesses who perhaps ship tangible goods worldwide, etc, but for my business (which is half technical consulting / half software development)... an airport address doesn't really fit.

I can't see it making a blind bit of difference, to be honest.

If someone likes the sound of your business enough to contact you and try to work with you, then they aren't going to be put off by your address being in a building within an airport complex.

 

[wayzgoose]

I can't see it making a blind bit of difference, to be honest.

If someone likes the sound of your business enough to contact you and try to work with you, then they aren't going to be put off by your address being in a building within an airport complex.

Have to disagree with you there. To me, it's like not showing a telephone number or just a contact form without an email address. Just makes me think "why are they hiding" and I'm off.

 

[Scott-Copywriter]

Have to disagree with you there. To me, it's like not showing a telephone number or just a contact form without an email address. Just makes me think "why are they hiding" and I'm off.

I'm not talking about whether it's a real or virtual address (I agree that a proper address is far, far better). It's about whether an address based in an airport is going to make any difference to sales compared to an address based elsewhere.

I highly doubt it will.

 

[wayzgoose]

I suppose it depends what you're selling and whether the address appears to be a forwarding address.

 

[Scott-Copywriter]

I suppose it depends what you're selling and whether the address appears to be a forwarding address.

Not really. That's my point. If someone is interested enough to contact this business to use them, then they aren't going to suddenly be put off all contact because their address is at a complex attached to an airport.

The building is inside Robin Hood Airport business park, so if there is still any concern left, adding "Business Park" to the end of "Robin Hood Airport" should allay any fears.

 

[GreatMarko]

I suppose it depends what you're selling and whether the address appears to be a forwarding address.

I don't sell any tangible goods (My business is in consulting and software development), and I'm certainly not trying to "hide" any "dodgy dealings" behind the mascaraed of a PO Box - it's simply a way to allow me to better protect my residential (home) address!

Anyway, we're getting a little OT here - the issue was not whether I should be entitled to have a PO Box or not (I've had one for the last 6 years!) - the issue - and my reason for posting - was because of the massive increases in price that the Royal Mail are now charging for this service (which has gone from £62 in 2007 to over £300 in 2013!)... and whether there were any viable, cheaper, reliable alternatives (that allow redirection so you don't physically have to go somewhere to collect) that people use or could recommend?

 

[FirstClassVirtualOffice]

Just to clarify, it's not a business park, though we wouldn't want customers varying the correct address because it just serves to cause confusion. But yes there a quite a few fairly new commercial buildings dotted around within the perimeter of the airport land we are in. It is considered a prestige location though.

There definitely are Virtual office in Manchester but you'd have to check them out and see what they charge. As we always say, tot up all the hidden costs before going ahead. By the time they charge a handling fee per item of post, extra to accept registered company post, vat and so on, it starts to rack up. Oh and make sure they are registered with HMRC for Money Laundering Regulations and with the ICO for Data Protection. If they don't ask you for ID and address verification before taking your money, give them a miss (if integrity and quality also matters).