Is shipping from home really safe?

[MilkThreads]

I live out in the boonies and have a long drive to the closest post office. I have read up on shipping from home with click and ship etc. I know how to do it, but I would have to place the packages in my mailbox at the road for them to be picked up. Is this safe? Does anybody else to it this way? Not sure I can just call for a pick up around here. This small spot of the world seems to do things their own way.

[Former_Member]

I ship most of my packages from home, but I live in the suburbs. Do you have mail issues often? If not, I don't see the problem with it. Maybe check to see if you can move your mailbox to a safer location.

[MilkThreads]

We have never had a problem, but I have never mailed actual packages from home either. The box is pretty far from the house and I can not see it at all from the house. This would be so much easier for me, but I don't want to loose any packages either.

[ValuableCr8tions]

I also live in the suburbs and mail from home, it is so much easier then running back & forth to the post office. I have not had any issues, so good luck to you.

[thevicagirl]

I live in the suburbs, but even so we still take our bills to the post office. You will have to compare how much risk you are willing to take. Will the risk be worth the ease of not going to the post office? Up to you.

[LaurasLastDitch]

I live in the city and have a mail carrier that walks from house to house. I can't fit things in my mailbox and don't want to leave the on the front porch. I have a piece of paper with a note asking my carrier to pick up the packages from the back porch. I leave the note on my mailbox, and my carrier will come to take them. This way I don't need to schedule a carrier pickup online.

If you want to schedule a carrier pickup, though, there is a place to indicate where the carrier should pick up your packages, so this should solve the problem. To use carrier pickup, though, you need at least one package being shipped via Priority Mail.

[HausofAriella]

I did that sometimes with Ebay stuff when I was staying with my parents up in the mountains last summer and never had any problems. If it's small enough to fit in your box and you don't have any problems with people stealing your regular mail when you have the flag up, I don't think you'd have an issue. No one knows what's being picked up when you put up your flag, so unless someone typically looks in your mail box, it wouldn't be a particular target. I think you can only schedule a pickup if you are shipping Priority.

[Former_Member]

I've been shipping my items from home for over a year. It just depends if you think that your items are safe in your particular area. I never had any problem with orders going missing from the mailbox. I didn't put them out the night before, I'd wait until the morning when pick-up time wasn't far off. Good luck! I know how frustrating it is to run back and forth to the post office, but then again - it's a good sign of business if it's a problem :)

[Former_Member]

i don't technically ship from home but I do print the labels from home and drop it off at my FT job's mail center when I go to work the next day.

[Former_Member]

Maybe there's a big blue community mail box you can drop them in as a compromise if you're not comfortable leaving it in your mailbox.

[ModernSwitch]

Can you leave a post it note for your mail man in your box saying you have a pickup?

[MilkThreads]

YayBeads from YayBeads says

Maybe there's a big blue community mail box you can drop them in as a compromise if you're not comfortable leaving it in your mailbox.

Nope, not one in the entire county. When I say boondocks, I really mean booooooondocks! LOL Heck we are lucky to even have a post office!

Thank you all for the information.

[MilkThreads]

Krystal from ModernSwitch says

Can you leave a post it note for your mail man in your box saying you have a pickup?

I woke up thinking about just that this morning. I need to talk to the postman and see if he would drive down to the house on days I leave a note. That would work great.

[EclectasieDesigns]

I ship from home all the time. If you request pick up from USPS you will be given a choice of where your packages should be picked up. Chose the option that lets you leave your packages at the front door. I think they allow multiple options so that you don't have to leave items in an unsecure place.

[Former_Member]

^ What Margaret said. When you have an incoming order in a large box, surely your mail carrier brings it right to your door, yes? So he/she shouldn't mind coming up your driveway. I use the "side door" option, and my driveway's not that long -- I just don't want to leave anything in the mailbox for the reasons you've mentioned.

[RDrewNaturals]

I print all of my shipping from home. The post office is walking distance from me, so I drop them off or if I am able to catch the post man I hand them to him. As for it being safe, printing and paying online is safe. Although I have loads of inventory supplies delivered to my home and they have never been bothered with, I still prefer to drop my packages off at the USPS.

[SelkiePubZines]

I think there's not as much risk if you live in the "boonies". I do, and I don't see that many people except the neighbors! Beautiful shop, by the way. My husband was a Marine at Camp Lejeune. : ) I would have loved one of your nursing covers if he was still in when we had kids, but just as glad he wasn't!