Help Please w/SD Mail Forwarding Service

dnta · 07-13-2022, 10:19 AM

I'm looking for a new mail forwarding service out of South Dakota. I am full time and that is my residential state. I started with UPS in Sioux Falls. Probably should have stayed there? I shifted to MyHomeAddress as they told me I could put my name and address WITHOUT a PMB number on things (which can be helpful in some cases.) They failed to tell me at the same time I asked for costs/fees that no matter what, THEY get money for all vehicle renewals, whether they do it or I do it! Although I no longer have 3 of these vehicles, last year I had my RV; 2 cars; a boat; a boat trailer; a Vespa scooter; and a utility trailer. I did all the paperwork myself, and MHA charged me a bunch of money. I want out. Yet this time I want to research my next service more thoroughly. I MAY go back to UPS. I DO NOT WANT anything but mail forwarding. Most of my mail goes to my God-daughter's address in GA and we deal with it ourselves. Very cheap haha Yet my legal stuff still goes to SD and I only get mail forwarded maybe 4x/year. I'd LOVE a virtual version, yet that may not be cost effective. I need to consider money. All my research shows quite a mix of opinion, and honestly, in some of the forums similar to this it seemed to me many of the responses might have been from the services themselves - either positive 'plants' if recommending - or negative 'plants' against competitors. I'd appreciate any honest opinions I can get, knowing I don't need all the bells and whistles of helping me renew stuff, etc. THANK YOU!

**creativepart** · 07-13-2022, 05:05 PM

I can't recommend these but it's a start:

https://www.dakotapost.net/

https://americasmailbox.com/

And the biggest most widely known: https://escapees.com/mail-service/ho...service-works/

You might try researching this on www.irv2.com. Winnie Owners is a branch off from IRV2 and it's a vastly larger site with a great many more full-timers.

Your question would be better answered there as it's not a Winnebago question.

We have full-timers here, of course, but it's not the main focus and you narrow it down further by needing South Dakota info. How many full-time RVers we have with a SD domicile I couldn't tell you - but I do know there would be dozens more of those folks on www.irv2.com.

dnta · 07-14-2022, 11:07 AM

Thanks. I had thought my post, being put in 'General Discussion', would be OK if not a Winnebago issue. So sorry for the misunderstanding. I will read the forum rules next time! :-) I have done exhaustive research on this mail forwarding issue, and already know of all the places you mentioned, and then some haha (both the mail services and the forums.) So I've just been looking for opinions from 'real world' RVer's who use these services. It was in those larger forums I felt there were too many 'plants' by mail forwarding services, posing as people who used 'such and such' service and how great it is. I have trusted the Winnebago forums, so naturally turned here to attempt to get some honest feedback. I get your points though, honestly, and will delete my post after you see my reply. Thanks!!

**creativepart** · 07-14-2022, 11:20 AM

You did absolutely nothing wrong and posted just fine here. No need to apologize or delete anything.

My point, if I can make it more clearly, is: I doubt we have many members that are able to provide very much information on this topic.

1. Your post applies to any RVer - not just Winnebago RV owners
2. We have far fewer full-time RVers than IRV2 does
3. We have even fewer full-timers with SD domiciles than IRV2

So, the post you made is fine - I just think that "the larger forums" are your best bet for gaining the most opinions on this topic.

I'm sorry if I made you think you had done something inappropriate. I was trying to NOT do that and it seems I failed. Apologies.

I hate to see you post your question and then have no helpful replies because you posted it here and we don't have many members that can reply with their experiences.

dnta · 07-14-2022, 11:38 AM

Thanks CP!! It will remain then, and I won't hold out much hope in this arena. Your points are well taken.

Scotty B · 07-15-2022, 08:11 AM

we've been asking ourselves the same question as we get ready to go on our extended adventure.

We did look at a couple of the domicile companies like CP references above - think there were two main ones - Escapees being one of them and they do offer domiciles in SD. Was really expensive and took a lot of work to make it happen.

We ended up going with the nearby UPS store like you did previously - $216 for 6 months.

Will see how it goes...tax time should be a bit more interesting next year!

dnta · 07-15-2022, 11:02 AM

Scotty B- Thanks. I truly had no issue with the UPS Store in Sioux Falls as long as I remembered to tell them I wanted my mail sent the cheapest way when I requested a forward (otherwise, high $.) Yesterday they quoted $300/yr total for one year if I decided to return. I liked they'd tell me on the phone what I had and I could say throw out, send, etc. Of course 6 months fees are relatively higher. The reason/advantage of the one I changed to (myhomeaddress) is that it DOES allow you (not in writing though) to send mail strictly with name and the street address w/o putting the PMB # on it (it's a private home address, working out of a garage, yet legal for years & local government agencies work well with them etc.) No issue with mail forwarding. There are times, though rare, when not advertising it's a PMB address is useful. After doing a lot of math yesterday (maybe should have done before I posted anything haha) I've decided to stick with them. I realized that their mailbox is quite a bit cheaper than UPS, so that offsets my issue of having to give them $ for vehicle registrations ($20 each if new registration/$10 each for annual renewals.) So I'm now down to $30 a year for that. That first hit though (changing counties, so all vehicles were 'new $20 registrations' PLUS another $10 when renewals came up was Yikes!) But that's over for me, so worth staying. Sorry for all the possibly wasted time here -yet maybe someone else will benefit from the info (especially if JUST NOW looking for which county/service to sign up with.) I PERSONALLY FEEL MY OWN ISSUE IS RESOLVED NOW! THANKS!

TenMillie · 07-17-2022, 04:12 PM

We used Dakota Post for the 3 years we were full-time. Had no problems.

Marvin · 07-17-2022, 04:15 PM

We like Americas Mailbox. We have been with them 15 years.

weirba · 07-17-2022, 04:34 PM

Have you looked at FMCA, they used to offer great service out of SD. We hav never required that service, but I understand they would scan every envelope and send that to you and you can select to have it forwarded, or shredded, or if you were not sure you could have them scan/send the contents to you decide if you wanted the original forwarded or shredded.

We use a UPS store and to get around the PO box issue we just refer our PO box number as our suite, or apt #.

dnta · 07-17-2022, 06:02 PM

Thanks Weirba. Good info for others who look. My current service (which I've decided to stay with) also does the scanning and etc you say FMCA does. Also, a note that I never put "PMB" on my UPS address, when I had it. I put #XXX. However an out of state bank I put that address on refused to let me open an account as they said the address I put was a UPS address, and therefore a PMB. So unfortunately, Ste or Apt or # doesn't always guarantee the truth won't be discovered. Bummer. Thanks y'all. Glad my decision is made AND this might help others in the future.