Knowing what kind ofaddressyou’re mailing to can be important and often will influence the amount you pay for postage and shipping. Shipping to residential addresses, for example, tends to be more expensive than shipping to commercial ones.
There are residential and commercial addresses, mixed addresses, as well as post office boxes. Post office boxes (P.O. Box) are traditionally used by individuals to receive mail in areas where mail may not be delivered directly to their homes.People also use P.O. boxes for security, privacy, the need for quicker delivery, and to maintain a permanent mailing address.
What is a P.O box address?
A P.O. box address typically will have “P.O. Box ###” as the full address line, after the street address, or in the second address field. Sometimes it may appear without the letters, like “#324” or shortened to “POB 373”.
Shipping to P.O Boxes: what you need to know
Sometimes merchants or e-commerce vendors will not ship to P.O boxes. If you use a courier service, like UPS or FedEx, these companies don’t guarantee shipments to P.O. boxes the same way they will with standard mail to a home or business address.
If you promise customers that their shipments will arrive within certain time frames, P.O. boxes can cause problems for your service guarantees. Also, if you need to know where your customers actually live, these addresses will get in your way.
How to determine if an address is a P.O Box
The easiest way to identify whether an address is a P.O. box is to use address verification software. Our address verification services provide indicators that identify P.O. box addresses during validation, giving you the information you need to choose the appropriate shipping method and keep your operations running efficiently.
Address verification can also identify Commercial Mail Receiving Agency (CMRA) addresses—private mailbox services offered by companies such as UPS and FedEx. These addresses may resemble standard street addresses but function differently than residential or commercial locations. Knowing whether you’re shipping to a P.O. box or a CMRA helps you make more informed fulfillment decisions.
Improve delivery accuracy with address verification
Understanding your address data helps reduce shipping costs, minimize returned packages, and improve the customer experience by increasing delivery accuracy. With Experian’s address verification services and free address lookup tools, you can quickly identify P.O. boxes, CMRAs, and other address characteristics before they create operational challenges.
Learn how Experian’s address verification solutions can help you validate addresses, reduce delivery issues, and improve operational efficiency.