In the United States, a commercial mail receiving agency (CMRA) is a private business that accepts mail from the Postal Service on behalf of third parties. A CMRA may also be colloquially known as a mail drop. A mailbox at a CMRA is called a private mailbox (PMB). A customer of a CMRA can receive

mail The mail or post is a system for physically transporting postcards, letter (message), letters, and parcel (package), parcels. A postal service can be private or public, though many governments place restrictions on private systems. Since the mid ...

and other deliveries at the

street address An address is a collection of information, presented in a mostly fixed format, used to give the location of a building, apartment, or other structure or a plot of land, generally using political boundaries and street names as references, along ...

of the CMRA rather than the customer's own street address. Depending on the agreement between the customer and the CMRA, the CMRA can

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the mail to the customer or hold it for pickup. Unlike a

post office box A post office box (commonly abbreviated as P.O. box, or also known as a postal box) is a uniquely addressable lockable box located on the premises of a post office. In some regions, particularly in Africa, there is no door-to-door delivery ...

, a CMRA operates independently of the national

postal administration This is a list of postal entities by country. It includes: *The governmental authority responsible for postal matters. *The Regulatory agency, regulatory authority for the postal sector. Postal regulation may include the establishment of postal ...

and is therefore able to receive courier packages or other items which are not traditional mailpieces. CMRAs typically provide ancillary services such as facsimile, copy, packaging, or courier. A customer may wish to use the services of a CMRA for privacy. A customer in one community may contract with a CMRA in another community with a better known or more prestigious address. A business located near an international border may use a CMRA as a point of local presence to receive cross-border freight or correspondence at domestic (instead of international) rates. A traditional advantage of a CMRA over a Post Office box was that customers could use the CMRA's street address plus a suite number as the address of their private mailbox. This masked the fact that the private mailbox was not the customer's actual residence or business address. However,

Web mapping Web mapping or an online mapping is the process of using, creating, and distributing maps on the World Wide Web (the Web), usually through the use of Web GIS, Web geographic information systems (Web GIS). A web map or an online map is both served ...

services with

aerial photography Aerial photography (or airborne imagery) is the taking of photographs from an aircraft or other flight, airborne platforms. When taking motion pictures, it is also known as aerial videography. Platforms for aerial photography include fixed-wi ...

allow anyone to determine that a particular street address is occupied by a shopping center and not an office building, while

Google Street View Google Street View is a technology featured in Google Maps and Google Earth that provides interactive panoramas from positions along many streets in the world. It was launched in 2007 in several cities in the United States, and has since expa ...

allows anyone to see that a particular street address is occupied by a CMRA retail storefront and not an office. The use of a CMRA may result in mail delivery occurring at a later time of day than it would at a Post Office box. Some CMRAs offer a

virtual mailbox A virtual mailbox is a service that receives physical mail on behalf of the addressee and usually scans the outside of the mail. Some providers also scan the inside contents of the mail as well. These scans may be photos, PDFs, or text-searchable ...

, or

online post office An online post office is a commercial mail receiving agency that implements the concept of hybrid mail, enabling conventional mail to become electronic, or electronic correspondence to be printed and mailed at a remote location. As paper correspo ...

, providing a means to access mail over the internet. The USPS will not process a change of address from an address at a CMRA.

History

In 1970, there were estimated to be as many as 1,500 CMRAs, costing on average $7 per month for a small mailbox. The private mailbox business grew as a result of shortage of

P.O. Box A post office box (commonly abbreviated as P.O. box, or also known as a postal box) is a uniquely addressable lockable box located on the premises of a post office. In some regions, particularly in Africa, there is no door-to-door delivery ...

es. As of 2000, the

USPS The United States Postal Service (USPS), also known as the Post Office, U.S. Mail, or simply the Postal Service, is an independent agency of the executive branch of the United States federal government responsible for providing postal serv ...

regulated 466 private mailboxes in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

alone.

Use as a business address

Most

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are required to register an official mailing address with the state, and that address is part of the public record. A business's use of an invalid address or an inappropriate third party as its official mailing address could result in legal problems, such as the loss of limited liability protection. If a business does not want to disclose its physical location, it may permissibly use a CMRA as its publicly known address.

Relevant regulations

Any person or entity claiming to receive postal mail for a third-party must be properly licensed and registered with the

US Postal Service The United States Postal Service (USPS), also known as the Post Office, U.S. Mail, or simply the Postal Service, is an independent agency of the executive branch of the United States federal government responsible for providing postal serv ...

, and such an entity must properly fill out USPS Form 1583. There are specific requirements all CMRA's must adhere to, including granting certain rights to CMRA customers.

Examples

* Mail Boxes Etc. *

PostNet (company) PostNet International is the franchisor of PostNet centers, which provide graphic design and printing services for businesses and consumers. In addition, PostNet centers offer professional packing services and shipping with UPS, FedEx, DHL and t ...

The UPS Store The UPS Store (formerly the United States arm of Mail Boxes Etc.) is a franchised subsidiary of United Parcel Service which provides, according to its website, shipping, shredding, printing, fax, passport photos, personal and business mail ...

Texas Home Base Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous state in the South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the west, and has an international border wit ...

References

{{reflist Postal systems

History

Use as a business address

Relevant regulations

Examples

See also

References