iPostal1 Review Summary
Overall, iPostal1 is an adequate digital mailbox service. The pricing structure is flexible and you can easily adjust your plan to suit your needs. Services designed for virtual office use are notably good. However, despite recent updates, things are let down by the clunky app user experience. Furthermore, some customers have also been let down by hidden costs and average customer service. In such a competitive market, these issues need to be addressed.
Table of Contents
There’s a number of providers available today that offer superior mail management services. The difficult question is often which one to go for.
If you reached this page, iPostal1 has clearly piqued your interest. In this review we will lift the lid off the service, taking a look at the various packages that they offer and how they hold up to the growing competition in this sector.
If you remain undecided by the end of the article, you may want to check out our top 5 best virtual mailbox service providers here. One of our contributors has also written an in-depth review of our top pick service for 2021, Traveling Mailbox. To read their opinion of the service after a year of ex-pat use, head here.
For now, though, let’s investigate further with our iPostal1 review.
Who is iPostal1?
iPostal1 is actually one of the largest digital mailbox service providers available in the U.S.A today. Considered to be an early adopter of the technology, the company introduced services via its own shipping store back in 2007.
It was a number of years before the company exploded in growth, however. Quietly building its reputation with a relatively small number of uses, we have to jump to 2015 before iPostal1 began to roll out its large network of digital mailbox locations.
The results have been generally well-received by customers all over the world.
iPostal1 can now boast over 1000 real street addresses, with their mail management hubs based all over the U.S. This is an important distinction to make, as the hubs are where your mail is scanned for you to see remotely.
Generally speaking, the more hubs a service has, the faster you will be made aware of incoming mail. This is clearly a benefit, especially for business users… but more on that later.
The company provides digital mailbox packages for personal use, business use, and even virtual office plans that feature phone call and fax management.
Let’s take a closer look at those packages and exactly what iPostal1 offers now.
iPostal1 Services Explained
As with all good virtual mailbox services iPostal1 will ensure that all your mail and packages are received, stored, and professionally managed at the address you have selected upon signup to the service.
No matter where you are in the world, you will be able to view and manage your mail and packages as long as you have an internet connection. Just login with your phone using the iPostal1 app or visit the secure website and you will have access to your digital correspondence.
From this user interface you can then request to have the mail forwarded to another address, have it opened and scanned, shredded, and/or discarded.
In short, regardless of your location, you have complete control of your incoming mail.
Who is iPostal1 designed for?
With its 3 main packages and varying price plans based on the number of mail items managed per month, it can be said that iPostal1 has an option for everyone.
The flexibility of its service is definitely one of its biggest selling points. Whether you are a traveling solo professional or entrepreneur, an ex-pat living abroad alone or with family, or a large company looking for a presence in a different U.S city market, you will find a package suitable for you.
The company even has a special plan suitable for RVers, boaters, and others that find themselves away from home for large periods of time. This is unique among mailbox service providers.
iPostal1 Features Summary
The iPostal1 – 3 main plans
Virtual Mailing Address
The standard virtual mailing address starts at $9.99 a month and is designed for personal or family use. This base ‘Green’ package allows for up to 30 mail items a month and can be paid monthly or annually, (giving you 2 months free).
There is also a Blue ($14.99), Silver (24.99), and Gold (39.99) package in this category that offers 60, 120, 240 mail items per month respectively.
Virtual Business Address
The virtual business address package follows exactly the same pricing structure.
There are 4 plans ranging from $9.99 to 39.99 a month depending on the number of mail items handled.
The following services are also provided at no extra cost.
Virtual Office Plans
Where iPostal1 differs from many current virtual mailbox service providers is that they offer comprehensive Virtual Office plans.
Beginning at $39.99, these excellent packages include a digital mailbox service suited to office-based mail quantities, local phone and fax numbers, and a virtual business address to ensure a business has a complete virtual presence in one or more markets.
As with the plans described above, the virtual office packages are split into 4 different groups depending on the amount of mail being handled and whether the phone number provided is toll-free or not.
It should be noted that on all iPostal1 plans, there is no contract or sign-up fee and a customer can change monthly plans at any time.
Real U.S. street address- Flexible shipment scheduling (on request, weekly, bi-weekly, monthly)
- Personal Digital Mailbox – access online or with an app to manage mail
- Your choice of carriers, ship dates, and service level
- Free App for Android and iPhone
- Shipping to unlimited addresses, $100 insurance (UPS, FedEx, DHL)
- 24/7 digital access to all your mail items
- 30 day storage: all mail & letter packs; boxes under 1,728 cu inches (= 12x12x12 size box)
- See a picture of the outside of every mail item
- Sender information for every item clearly visible
- 5 day storage: boxes at/over 4,896 cu inches (= 24x17x12 size box)
- 10 day storage: boxes 1,728 to 4,895 cu inches
- Automatic email alert for new items received
- Discard mail items service
- Up to five Mailbox recipients, if names added within 30 days of signup
- Consolidation of letters into one package for forwarding
- 4 GB secure cloud storage
- Preparation of commercial invoice (for international shipments)
- Related Content: 5 key benefits of using a virtual mailbox & address service
iPostal1 Reviews – How does the service hold up to the competition?
There’s no denying that iPostal1 provides a wide range of services designed to suit the individual needs of many. But how does the service hold up from one of the most important factors? Cost…
Cost
A real benefit of iPostal1 is that you can choose a plan that best suits you and can easily change if you need to expand or reduce your mail management load.
A real street address with iPostal1 for as low as $9.99 per month makes them one of the cheapest on the market today. Only Anytime Mailbox has cheaper monthly packages. However, the fact you can have 30 items processed for this price makes iPostal1 more cost-effective.
Pay as you go style service providers, where you pay extra per mail item or scan end up costing a great deal.
On the other end of the spectrum, large business mail management loads (up to 240 items with the $39.99 a month business package) are also competitive.
However, one must not forget some of the add-ons which can be unduly complicated with iPostal1. Services such as Traveling Mailbox are great for the individual because of the transparency of prices.
Your chosen package should cater to all your needs without any surprising additional costs. iPostal1 has a whole list of them and these should be factored into your potential monthly expenses.
If you are caught short, (as some users have experienced much to their disdain), the added costs can really add up. This is a problem.
- Mail items above Plan maximum: $.35 per item
- Remove Invoice From Package: $1.95
- Forward mail and packages. (See real-time shipping cost options; select carrier and level of service preferred)
- Receive Fax: $2.00 each for up to 6 pages, then $.25/page
- Mail Content Scanning: $2.00 per envelope for up to 6 pages, then $0.25 per additional page.
- Additional Insurance (first $100 of insurance free with UPS, FedEx, DHL): $2.00 for each $100 of insurance requested
- Pickup at address location: varies by location
- Easily add additional mailbox address locations with just a click.
- Extended Storage (after free storage expires): See iPostal1 website
- Check Deposit by Mail: $4.95 to deposit up to 5 checks (scan required of each check), plus trackable shipping
- Shred Mail: $2.00 each for up to 6 pages, then $.25/page
- Consolidate contents of multiple packages for shipment in one box: $1.95 per package plus packaging materials
- Related Content: US Global Mail Review [My Opinion after a Year in Vietnam]
Delivery time
iPostal1 has a very good delivery time, allowing you access to your mail the day it is received. This is helped by the fact that mail management is generally undertaken at, or very close to your chosen location.
This is related to the high number of hubs the service has, which we mentioned earlier. Some providers end up handling your mail multiple times, causing delays as your mail is sent from its arrival location to the scanning location. In some cases, it can add 2 or 3 days to the processing time.
Virtual Addresses
As already stated, there are currently over 100 real street addresses in the iPostal1 network, with more being added all the time.
Not only does this provide excellent coverage, but the nature of these addresses is also worth commenting on. While other services may list a large number of addresses, you need to be aware that many are often USPS PO boxes.
This can prove a problem for businesses as such addresses are difficult to register for business use. You might not receive deliveries from every carrier either.
The Online Interface
iPostal1 has a user interface available both via an IOS or Android phone app as well as online. As long as you have a network or internet connection, you will have straightforward access to your mail.
The app is especially useful for viewing and forwarding mail. The interface also provides access to real-time shipping prices, you can consolidate mail items to save on shipping, request to have items shredded; you can even initiate having a check deposited by mail.
The app is an area where iPostal1 could still do with improvement. Various upgrades over the last couple of years still haven’t managed to solve all the issues here.
True, the interface is more intuitive and easier to use than earlier incarnations, however, some compatibility issues and a lack of features still cause the app to have a bad reputation among users.
Scoring an average of just 2 stars out of 5 (from 28 reviews) on the IOS app store shows that problems remain.
- Related Content: Anytime Mailbox Review: The Mailbox Service to Use in 2021?
iPostal1 vs The Competition
iPOSTAL 1 | TRAVELING MAILBOX | ANYTIME MAILBOX | US GLOBAL MAIL | MAILBOX FORWARDING | |
 |  |  |  |  | |
ADDRESSES | 1000+ | 25+ | 1000+ | 1 | 3 |
MOBILE APP | YES | YES | YES | YES | NO |
FREE MAIL ITEMS PER MONTH | Up to 240/mo | Up to 200/mo | Up to 200/mo | UNLIMITED | 50 - UNLIMITED |
CHECK DEPOSIT | YES | YES | YES | YES (FREE) | YES |
FREE MAIL STORAGE | 60 Days | 30 Days | VARIES | 45 - 180 Days | 30 Days |
INTEGRATIONS | NO | DropBox, Evernote, Bill.com, GoogleDrive | NO | NO | NO |
RECYCLING & SHREDDING | YES | YES | YES | YES | YES |
SECURITY LEVEL | NOT LISTED | HIGH | 2048 bit SSL | STANDARD SLL | 256-bit SSL |
PRICE PER MAIL (OVER QUOTA) | $0.35 | $0.25 | Up to $1.00 | N/A | $0.25 |
PLAN PRICING/mo | $9.99 - $69.99 | $15 - $55 | $6.50 - $80+ | $9.95 - $24.95 | $14.95 - $49.95 |
The Pros & Cons of the iPostal1 Digital Mailbox Service
- Wide range of plans to suit different needs
- flexible pricing structure with no contract or sign up fee
- over 700 virtual address locations, with same-day access to mail
- All features you would expect from a digital mailbox service
An app that still scores badly among users despite various updates- some additional costs for services can add up if you are not careful
- Users have complained of the lackluster customer service
Bottom Line
Overall, iPostal1 is an adequate digital mailbox service. The pricing structure is flexible and you can easily adjust your plan to suit your needs.
Services designed for virtual office use are notably good. However, things are let down by the clunky app user experience; despite an update in 2020 problems remain.
Furthermore, some customers have also been let down by hidden costs and average customer service. In such a competitive market, these are issues that need to be addressed.
Virtual Mailbox Service FAQ
Q. How much does a virtual mailbox cost?
This depends on how much mail you expect to have processed each month and whether you need a virtual mailbox for individual or business purposes. Many low-volume mailbox service accounts are priced between $10-$15 per month. Family/small business mailbox services range from $15 – $50mo. Large volume enterprise accounts can be several hundred dollars and more.
Q. Is a virtual mailbox safe?
Yes. Virtual mailboxes services are designed to keep your mail accessible and safe. If safety and security were compromised, businesses such as iPostal1 would find themselves in trouble very quickly. Whether you opt to have your mail stored, forwarded, or shredded, safety is a high priority.
Q. Is using a virtual address legal for businesses?
Yes, there is no legal issue using a virtual address for your business. You will need to follow business and tax regulations in line with your state of business formation. You should also understand any applicable sales tax issues if you operate in the state of the virtual address.
Q. Can I use a virtual address for my LLC formation?
Yes, absolutely. Many virtual mailbox services (iPostal1 included) offer businesses address specifically for this purpose.
