How to Address a Package to a PO Box

Some people prefer renting a PO box to receiving mail and packages to their residential address for a number of reasons, primarily because PO boxes are secure and provide anonymity and confidentiality. PO boxes have a specific address format, which you should take into account when you print shipping labels yourself. How to properly address a package to a PO box?

First and foremost, let’s figure out what a USPS PO box is. A PO box is a lockable mailbox located in a USPS Post Office. You can rent a PO box from the United States Postal Service if you want to keep your residential address secret, find mailboxes in your place of residence unreliable, are in the process of looking for a new residence or moving, or for any other reason you consider valid.

People can rent a PO box for 3, 6 or 12 months and use it to receive correspondence and packages. A PO box can be accessed only by the person who has rented it and by USPS employees. PO boxes are available in post offices throughout the country. Most PO boxes are accessible 24/7, but their accessibility may vary by post office location.

One of the factors to take into account when renting a PO box is its size, which will depend on the amount of letters and packages you intend to receive. USPS PO boxes come in five sizes, ranging from XS (Size 1) to XL (Size 5). It should be noted that the smallest PO boxes can fit only letter-sized mail and magazines, and sizes S and M can fit a limited number of small packages. If a package doesn’t fit into a PO box, the post office will hold it for the recipient for a certain number of business days.

Each USPS PO box has a unique number that serves for identification purposes. When you address a letter or package to a PO box, you should use this number in place of the residential address. It seems pretty clear, but some people still get confused when they need to create a shipping label that is addressed to a USPS PO box instead of a residential address. Luckily, PostageMaker makes this process very easy and helps to avoid any confusion.

When you print shipping labels with PostageMaker, the process of creating a shipping label addressed to a PO box is not that different from creating a regular shipping label. The main difference between generating a shipping label for shipping to a residential address and generating a shipping label for shipping to a PO box is that you need to use the PO box number instead of the street address.

Start with typing the recipient’s first and last name; if you’re addressing a package to a company representative, type the name of the company in the Company field. In the Address field, type the word “PO Box” followed by the unique number of the recipient’s PO box, which can consist of 2 to 5 digits, for example: PO Box 12345. Do not add any punctuation when addressing a package to a USPS PO box. All that’s left to do is specify the city, ZIP code, country, state, and the recipient’s phone number.

Some PO box users pay for an additional service called Street Addressing. It gives them the option of using the street address of the post office location where their PO box is situated, combined with their PO Box number, as their mailing address. For example, when someone’s PO box number is 12345 and the post office where it is situated is located at 12 Main Street, the street address of the PO box will be 12 Main Street #12345. This is what you need to type in the Address field when generating a shipping label with PostageMaker.

As you see, there is nothing complicated about addressing a package to a PO box. With PostageMaker, creating a shipping label addressed to a USPS PO Box is just as easy as creating a regular shipping label with a residential address. One more thing you need to remember, however, is that you should use USPS when shipping to a PO box because the United States Postal Service might not accept packages from private carriers (although there are some exceptions).