The Postal Service loves to see customers in Post Offices, however, there are some convenient alternatives that will save the trip.

Today, Postal Service customers have more choices than ever before regarding where and when to conduct their postal business — and most of the options do not involve a physical Post Office.

Many postal services are available at usps.com where customers can purchase stamps, hold mail, lookup a ZIP Code, rent or renew a P.O. Box, submit a change of address, set up Premium Forwarding Service, as well as track and manage their mail from the convenience of their own home or business.

Mailing packages from home is also a snap using Click-N-Ship and Free Package Pickup at usps.com. With Click-N-Ship online at usps.com/ship, customers can:

• Get free Priority Mail and Priority Mail Express boxes and envelopes online at usps.com/freeboxes.
• Create shipping labels with USPS Tracking and pay for postage using flat rate shipping products.
• Get packages picked up for free with Package Pickup. Schedule a pickup at usps.com/pickup.
• Provide delivery instructions online and authorize the carrier to leave the package in a specific location.
• Request the package be held at the customer’s Post Office by choosing the Hold for Pickup option.

There’s also a Post Office on your phone. The Postal Service app — USPS Mobile — is available on Apple and Android platforms. Some of the most popular functions currently available on usps.com — Informed Delivery, USPS Tracking, Post Office Locator, ZIP Code Lookup, calculating postage, holding mail, requesting Package Pickup and ordering shipping supplies — are now available on most smart phones.

With so many features available on usps.com, many of our customers don’t have to leave their home to do business with the Postal Service.

For customers who would like to see mail arriving soon to their mailboxes, there’s Informed Delivery.

Informed Delivery, available at informeddelivery.usps.com, is a free and optional notification service that gives you a black and white image of the exterior, address side of letter-sized mail and helps manage packages scheduled to arrive soon. With Informed Delivery, you can see what’s coming to your mailbox wherever you are, on a computer, tablet, or mobile device. It’s a fast and easy way to view mail before it arrives.

There has never been greater access to postal products and services from the comfort of home than there is today.

The Postal Service receives no tax dollars for operating expenses and relies on the sale of postage, products and services to fund its operations.

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