Frequently Asked Questions

General

How can I contact Earth Class Mail?

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If you are a customer and need to reach us, there are a few ways to get in touch:

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 onboarding@earthclassmail.com.

Are your services available worldwide?

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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.

Do you have a mobile app?

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

Virtual Mail

Is Earth Class Mail the right virtual mail service for me?

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With a digital mailbox, you and your team can access important mail, checks, invoices, contracts, and more in one centralized online location. This lets you stay effective at managing your business whether you go remote, live abroad, or travel often.

We serve individuals and businesses of all sizes and stages. If you're starting a business, securing a business address through Earth Class Mail helps protect your privacy by letting you keep a personal mailbox like your home address more secure. If you're expanding your business into multiple markets, you can use virtual mail to create a presence wherever your customers are located by adding a preferred business address to a virtual mailbox.  You can learn more about our current plan offerings on our Pricing Page and our current addresses on our Address Page.

How do I choose the right virtual address?

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We've secured a wide range of prestigious addresses across the country, so you can position your business exactly where you desire—from Park Avenue in New York, to Market Street in San Francisco—without the price tag. Share your exclusive location with customers and on your website, business card, email signature, and more, and reap the rewards of some of the world's most prime real estate for your business. Learn more about the addresses we offer and take note of which mail carriers deliver to the address you’re considering to choose the best option for your business. 

Our business addresses are real, physical addresses that your business can use as customer-facing business mailing addresses without physically occupying the space. This gives you an extra layer of privacy and security by letting you keep your personal address or operational address to yourself.

What is a virtual address?

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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.

How do I use my virtual address?

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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.

How does having a virtual address help me?

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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.

Can I use a virtual address for business registration?

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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.

How does virtual mail work?

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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".

Getting Started

How quickly can I start using my virtual address?

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You can begin using your address as soon as you have completed the 1583 form through our user interface.

How long does it take to get my mail online?

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Once we receive your postal mail, it takes about 24-48 hours to scan it and upload it to your account. For fastest access we recommend using our Beaverton, Oregon address, where one of our processing facilities is located.

How do I receive my mail?

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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.

How do I access my digital mail?

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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.

How do I set up my Earth Class Mail account?

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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.

What is a USPS 1583 Form?

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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.

Security

Who opens and scans my mail?

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All the postal mail we receive on your behalf is forwarded from your chosen address to our Centralized Operations Facility. There, our mailroom operators will scan the outside of your parcel and the contents inside and outside of your envelope, turning it into a fully searchable PDF that you can securely view in your account. We handle all your business mail under very secure conditions. Trained staff abide by strict data protection regulations and guidelines to protect your privacy. The scanned mail on your secure cloud space is password protected. And you can even enable multi-factor authentication to your account for an additional layer of protection.

Is virtual mail safe?

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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.

Storage/Forwarding

What mail storage options do you offer?

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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 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. You can learn more about our subscriptions and add ons on our Detailed Pricing Page. Our processing facility 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.

What is a virtual address?

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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.

What are the storage fees?

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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.

Do you forward physical mail anywhere in the world?

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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.

Check Deposit

What are the check deposit fees?

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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.

How does check deposit work?

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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.

Billing

When is payment due?

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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.

What counts as a piece of mail?

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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.

Can I cancel my subscription?

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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.

How will I be billed?

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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.

Are your fees clearly explained upfront?

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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.

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Find out more with The Postcard

The Postcard, our monthly email, keeps you updated on new products, event invites, virtual mailbox tips, and special promotions.

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Find a new way to access your postal mail.