Frequently Asked Questions

Yes, if you want to receive mail at a virtual address in the US you can sign up with Earth Class Mail from anywhere in the world. To handle your postal mail on your behalf you need to fill in the United States Postal Services (USPS) form 1583. This form then needs to be notarized by a public notary who will ask you to provide two copies of ID. The notary we partner with speaks both English and Spanish so you must be comfortable navigating the notarization interview in one of those languages. Your ID must also be in a language that uses the Latin alphabet.

Yes! You can download our iOS mobile app on the Apple App Store or on the Google Play Store for Android.

If you are a customer and need to reach us, send an email to [email protected] or log in to your account and click the “Help” icon to create a ticket. Our customer success team is available to answer your questions Monday through Friday, from 8 AM to 5 PM CST.

If you have just signed up for an account and need help completing the 1583 form, please contact [email protected].

If you have questions about customer solutions, call our sales team at 210-802-5211, use the instant chat tool at the bottom of this page or send an email to [email protected].

A virtual address is a real, physical address that can be used remotely as a customer business mailing address without the need for you or your business to physically occupy that space.

Once you’ve signed up for our service, you will have to complete a USPS 1583 form which will allow us to receive and open your postal mail. After that, you will receive an email confirmation of your new address along with a Personal Mailbox Number. To start receiving mail, you also need to inform your contacts and vendors of your new address and Personal Mailbox Number.

When you receive mail, we’ll scan it and upload it to your Earth Class Mail account in PDF format. You simply log into our web or mobile app and decide what to do next: open and scan the contents, ship it, or shred it. For more on how this works, go here.

You can use virtual addresses for many different purposes, as a business or as an individual. If you live abroad or travel a lot, you can rest assured that you can access your postal mail online, from anywhere in the world. If you’re thinking of starting your own business, a virtual mail address helps protect your personal privacy. If you already own a business, you can expand into multiple markets using several virtual addresses or you can go remote since all your employees will be able to access their important mail, checks, invoices and contracts in one online location.

If location is important to you, you’ll want to choose a specific address from our U.S. network of 80+ street addresses and PO boxes. Be sure to take note of which mail carriers deliver to the address you’re considering. With the exception of our Personal and Shared plans, all plans allow you to choose any virtual address from our network.

If you don’t need an address in a specific locale, consider signing up for a Personal or Shared MailBox plan. These plans include our Beaverton, Oregon street address and deliver the same great service as other plans but for a lower monthly price.

Yes, in most states you can use Earth Class Mail’s network of virtual mail addresses to register your business. We advise you check your state laws or get legal counsel to ensure you are compliant with current laws.

Our virtual mail service lets you forward your mail to our secure processing facility using a virtual address from our national network. We then scan it and send you high-resolution PDFs that you can access from anywhere in the world. For more information read "How Virtual Mail Works".

We serve both individuals and businesses with six different virtual plans. Review and compare all our plans here. To view over 80 addresses you can choose from, go here.

Your postal mail is delivered to your virtual address using your Personal Mailbox Number (PMB). This number is assigned when you sign up for your account, and should appear on all mail items we receive on your behalf. We can direct items to different users within your account based on how they are addressed. This can be done with individual or business names, titles, and departments. Items delivered to our processing facility in Beaverton, OR should appear in your account the same day. Street addresses generally accept items from all carriers and PO Boxes accept items from the USPS only, but some exceptions apply. Browse our address network for more details on individual addresses and exceptions.

If you sign up for a MailBox or MailRoom account, you can automatically access digital scans of your postal mail in your account via our web or mobile app. In your app settings you can control if you receive notifications every time a new postal mail item is scanned for you.

Once we receive your postal mail, it takes 24-48 hours to scan it and upload it to your account. For fastest access we recommend using our Beaverton, Oregon address, where our processing facility is based. Items received in cities without a processing facility require additional transit time (1-3 business days). Deliveries from cities like New York, San Francisco and Seattle usually reach our facility the next day. During the COVID pandemic, our processing times might take a bit longer than usual.

After you complete the signup process, you will receive an email with your 5 digit Personal Mailbox Number. This will be part of your new address and must appear on every mail item we receive in your name. You can start forwarding your mail to your new virtual address immediately. However, Earth Class Mail can’t start opening/scanning your postal mail until you have completed and notarized the USPS 1583 form.

After you sign up for a monthly subscription plan, we will guide you through the process of completing the 1583 form, which gives us permission to open your mail.  We will also send you an email confirming your new virtual address and your login information, so you can access your new account on the Earth Class Mail web app. For detailed instructions please read this article on how to set up your virtual mail account.

As required by the United States Postal Service, the only way for Earth Class Mail to receive and open your postal mail is if you give your consent. Once notarized, the United States Postal Service 1583 Postal Consent form is legal proof that you allow Earth Class Mail to act as commercial postal agent on your behalf. This document also helps us verify your identity to ensure that your mail is only received by and made available only to by the appropriate parties.

All the postal mail we receive on your behalf is forwarded from the chosen address to our Centralized Operations Facility located in Beaverton, Oregon. There, our mailroom operators will scan the outside of your parcel and the inside and outside of your envelope, turning it into a fully searchable PDF that you can securely view in your account.

Earth Class Mail's technicians are screened and trained in order to ensure the privacy of your personal information. We are authorized by the United States Postal Service to receive and store your important mail and documents in our facilities. Earth Class Mail’s processing facility in Beaverton, Oregon is monitored and has restricted access. Every mail action is recorded in our secure database. To ensure the security of your digital mail, we use 256-bit AES encryption to store digital documents. You can also enable multi-factor authorization on your account for strict account access. Read more about how we ensure virtual mail security.

A virtual address is a real, physical address that can be used remotely as a customer business mailing address without the need for you or your business to physically occupy that space.

We store both the physical mail we receive on your behalf, and the digital PDFs we create after scanning your mail. MailBox and MailRoom subscription plans automatically include unlimited storage of digital scans, 30 days of free physical storage for envelopes and 10 days of free physical storage for your packages from the date physically received. Our processing facility in Beaverton, OR, is fire safe and consistently monitored via early-alert mechanisms to ensure the safety and security of your items. Alternatively, you can choose to have your mail securely shredded. If you frequently encounter storage fees, you have the option to reserve physical storage space on a monthly basis at a discounted rate. Look for the "Reserved Storage" add-on in your Account Management portal.

Storage fees are the fees associated with storing your physical mail items at our facilities. Any envelope stored over 30 days or package stored over 10 days is subject to these fees. Browse our detailed pricing page for more information.

We use United States Postal Service to deliver our mail. Depending on the volume of mail that needs forwarding, we can forward your postal mail anywhere United States Postal Service is currently delivering. Check the usps.com for more details on international shipping.

To enable the check deposit feature you must first sign up for a MailBox or MailRoom plan and enable the check deposit feature during the checkout process. For $39 per month you get 5 checks included with your plan. Additional check deposits cost $2 each. Check deposits made on a plan without the Check Deposit Feature are billed at $10 per check.

Our check deposit service allows us to scan and deposit any checks you receive in the mail by mailing your checks to your bank. You can set up your bank account(s) in your Earth Class Mail account settings and enable automated check deposit to enjoy hands-free check deposit when a check is detected in your mail. There are no deposit limits and no credit checks. To enable the check deposit feature you must first sign up for a MailBox or MailRoom plan and enable the check deposit feature during the checkout process. Read more about automated check deposits.

Payment is due upon receipt of your monthly statement and will automatically be collected via a charge to the credit card we have on file.

A piece of mail is any envelope or package with up to 20 pages front and back that is not considered to be bulk class mail.

Yes, you can cancel your account at the end of the billing period. We charge a $50 cancellation fee to cover costs associated with receiving and forwarding any mail we might receive after your cancellation. We are legally required to provide this service for 6 months after your cancellation, but you can waive this option. Full details about our cancellation process are available on the cancellation info page.

When you first sign up for an account, you’ll be billed up front at checkout for a prorated subscription fee for the number of days remaining in the current calendar month. Your account will then be transitioned to an arrears billing cycle that is aligned to a calendar month service period. This means that the services we provide you in one month will always be billed on the first day of the next month. 

For example, if you sign up on March 15, you will be billed upfront a prorated amount covering the March 15 - March 31 period. Your second bill will be issued on May 1 and will cover the April service period. Your third bill will be issued on June 1 and cover the May service period, and so on.

All the fees are explained in our detailed pricing page. Unlike other virtual mail service providers, Earth Class Mail scans all the mail you receive within your plan’s quota. If you select a MailBox plan, you can receive up to 50 pieces of mail and we will scan all of them. When you choose to activate pay as you go add-ons, you will see the full price of the service up front. Some fees might apply when you exceed your plan’s limit so be sure to check out the pricing details.