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September 5, 2008

Earth Class Mail – Snail Mail 2.0

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We check our email online and some of us even check our voicemail online. What if you could check your postal mail online, from any computer in the world? A new service called Earth Class Mail provides the ability to do just that. While at first glance, this might seem like an unnecessary convenience, there are actually many good reasons to use a service like Earth Class mail. Frequent travelers, those in the middle of a cross-country move, people serving in the military, and small business owners may all have good reason to use an online mail service rather than traditional snail mail.

After signing up for Earth Class Mail, you’ll need to tell folks (companies, utilities, etc.) your new mailing address. What will your Earth Class Mail address be? There are several options, from P.O. box addresses in many major cities to high-profile street addresses in cities like New York or Los Angeles or to the Earth Class Mail processing office in Beaverton, Oregon. Each time you receive a piece of mail at your new address, you’ll receive an email notification with a photo of the envelope. You can choose to have the piece of mail scanned, have it shredded and recycled, or archive it. Scanned mail can be downloaded as PDF files and saved to your computer, shared with others, or deleted. The process makes it easy to sift through stacks of mail without – well, actually having to sift through stacks of mail.

Practical Uses:

  • Receive your mail without interruption while traveling overseas, summering in another part of the country, or while you’re in the midst of a move
  • Give your college-bound daughter her own mailing address, independent of the dorm she’s living in this semester
  • Create an electronic P.O. box for your business
  • Have your mail scanned as it arrives – and archive all your bills and official documents on your computer (or print as many copies as you need), rather than in a file cabinet
  • Allow any authorized employee (no matter which office she works in) to process company mail
  • Create an online mailbox for family members in the military to get their mail no matter where they’re deployed, without delays

Insider Tips:

  • You can have all your mail forwarded to your Earth Class Mail account, but the company recommends that you don’t do this, since you’ll want some companies (especially places where you order packages) to send you mail directly to your house
  • If you do get something (a business license, rebate check, etc.) that you need to have physically, Earth Class Mail will forward it to you, for an additional fee
  • Setting up Earth Class Mail does take a little legwork, since the company needs a form signed and notarized, in order to legally accept mail on your behalf

What we liked:

  • Earth Class Mail makes it easy to handle snail mail – and integrates your mail with your email for easy processing
  • The quality of scans is excellent
  • Customer Service for Earth Class Mail is responsive, available, and very helpful – which is especially important as you’re setting up the service
  • The company has many security measures in place, from online security to rigorous employee screening, to ensure that information is safe

What we didn’t like:

  • Seeing your mail does take two steps – requesting a scan (which can take a couple of days) and opening the scanned item. While this is understandable, it does require a little extra processing

Alternatives:

  • There are no services similar to Earth Class Mail at this time

Company Info:

Costs:

  • Plans range from $9.95/month to $59.95/month, depending on volume of mail and the type of address

Comments

  1. MyAdmin offers you virtual mail management services for affordable prices. We will scan and email your mail for very short time. Satisfaction is guaranteed.

  2. John

    I highly recommend http://www.travelingmailbox.com – Awesome customer service with affordable pricing.

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