Thursday, March 27th
2025 Virtual Mailbox Service Reviews
St. Brendan's Isle
- Price: $13.99 to $29.99/month for base plans, plus $7.99-15.99/month for mail scanning
- Scanning plans include 40 or 125 envelope scans per month
- Same-day scanning available, when requested by noon Eastern Time
- No third-party outsourcing
- "A+” BBB rating
- In business since 1988
St. Brendan's Isle is a virtual mailbox service that helps you manage your mail while you're traveling or living on the move. Founded in 1988, they started by helping people who lived on boats and have grown to serve RVers, business travelers, nurses, and many others. You can get your mail scanned, forwarded anywhere, or stored until you need it. What makes them special is their flexible monthly plans, their helpful staff, and the fact that they can help you set up a Florida address for legal purposes. Most of their new customers come from word-of-mouth recommendations, showing how much people trust their service.
A plan for any situation
SBI has a different landing page for each traveling situation, differentiated by the type of customer they're meant to serve. All three of their virtual mailbox plans cost the same and generally include the same set of services, but different benefits might be highlighted - like Inactive Account Status for RV Travelers for when they're at home base.
- Traveler's Special ($13.99/month) is designed for RV travelers, Merchant Marines, traveling nurses or doctors, expatriate travelers, and business executives.
- Cruiser Home Port ($15.99/month) is the virtual mail forwarding service of choice for live-aboard cruisers.
- Custom Mail Service ($29.99/month) enables you to pick and choose from all of SBI's services to create the perfect plan for your lifestyle. With this plan, they can help submit payment for your bills and deposit checks.
Same-day forwarding with tracking number included in all plans
So what are the services included in these plans? SBI offers you junk mail sorting, same-day mail forwarding (when requested by noon Eastern Time), shipping tracking notifications, and secure mail handling with numbered shipments for easy tracking. They also provide an emergency locator service for lost packages and multiple communication channels (including an 800 number, email, and fax) for customer support. For part-time travelers, they offer an Inactive Account Status option. You'll also have 24/7 access to your online Mail Manager Pro account, which allows you to sort your mail and decide what you want done with it.
Get assistance with Florida registrations and licenses
St. Brendan's Isle is unlike any other virtual mail forwarding services because of the extensive assistance they offer with residency and registration services - they'll help you establish Florida residency, get your driver's license, and handle both vehicle and voter registration. They'll even help you register your sailing vessel.
Mail scanning costs a monthly fee and affordable
You may have noticed that content scanning is not included in the services we listed, but don't despair - St. Brendan's Isle offers it as an add-on. If you receive a "normal” volume of mail, you can add Mail Scan Pro to your account for $7.99 per month. It includes 40 envelope scans with a charge of $0.25 on each piece thereafter. Opening an envelope for a content scan costs $0.50, plus $0.10 for the first 5 pages - any additional pages are scanned free. (That means a 6-page letter would cost you $1 to scan - and so would a 7-page, 15-page, or 20-page letter.) If you receive a "large” volume of mail, SBI's mail scanning add-on costs $15.99. It includes everything the first tier does at the same prices, but you get 125 envelope scans instead of 40.
Flat fee for package storage
St. Brendan's Isle's storage fees for packages are reasonable: the first 30 days are free, and then it's a flat-rate of $0.10 per day, no matter the package's weight or size.
$100 deposit necessary to begin service
Interested? You'll start by signing up for St. Brendan's Isle mail forwarding service with a $100 deposit. Your account needs to maintain at least $10 - when it drops below that, you'll make another $100 deposit. You can track all your transactions through their online Mail Manager Pro system, and if you ever cancel, they'll refund your remaining balance. Be aware that there's also a non-refundable, one-time sign-up fee of $15 if you choose either of the Mail Scan Pro plans.
Customers only have positive things to say
St. Brendan's Isle comes highly recommended by sailboat owners, RVers, and travel professionals who are away from home for weeks or months at a time. One long-time customer reports that they've called their customer service a few times - and even visited the headquarters in person - and "have never had an iota of any issues with them”. Another customer recommends them for their assistance to people with no fixed address. SBI has also earned an "A+” from the Better Business Bureau, and there were no complaints or negative reviews left there at the time of our visit.
Unconventional, but strong
You might notice that St. Brendan's Isle feels a bit different from other virtual mailbox services - and that's actually a good thing. While their website might not be the flashiest and their pricing structure takes a minute to understand, what you're getting is a family-owned business that truly gets the unique needs of travelers, whether you're living on a sailboat, traveling in an RV, or working as a traveling professional. Their personal touch and deep understanding of domicile issues (especially in Florida) make them particularly valuable if you're in one of those special situations where a regular P.O. box just won't cut it. If you're looking for a virtual mailbox service that combines reliability with real human support - and especially if you need help establishing a Florida address - we'd definitely recommend giving St. Brendan's Isle a try.
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The 10 Best Virtual Mailbox Services
What is the Best Virtual Mailbox Service?
Dreaming of an extended vacation, but don't want to saddle a relative with the task of sorting your junk mail? Have you ever wished you could check your mail from anywhere in the world? Virtual mailbox services can help you do just that.
Let's say you're a digital nomad running a US-based graphic design business while traveling through Southeast Asia. Instead of worrying about missing important documents or having mail pile up at home, you could use a virtual mailbox service that gives you a real street address (not a P.O. box) in Denver. Whenever mail arrives, it'll be quickly scanned and uploaded to an app on your phone or accessible via a website.
Virtual Mailbox Service FAQ
Continued from above...
This type of service is perfect for frequent travelers, RVers, small business owners, or anyone who wants a smarter way to handle their physical mail while on the move. In some cases, they can even help you provide proof of residency.
Virtual mailbox services typically offer tiered plans to accommodate different needs. Plans for individuals start anywhere from $10 to $30 per month and focus on essential services like mail scanning, forwarding, and secure shredding. Business plans include additional features, such as registered agent services, premium street addresses, and multi-user access. Many providers offer combination plans that blend both personal and business features. While some services might only offer virtual addresses in a handful of US states, others operate a broad network of addresses across the country or internationally.
Setting up a virtual mailbox is straightforward but requires some paperwork. You'll need to complete USPS Form 1583 (which must be notarized) to authorize the service to receive your mail. Some services offer that notarization via Zoom for an additional fee. Once set up, you'll receive notifications when new mail arrives. Through your online dashboard, you can decide whether to have items scanned, forwarded, shredded, or recycled. For example, you might choose to have important documents scanned immediately while having packages forwarded to your current location.
While you're shopping for the right virtual mailbox service, there are a few factors to keep in mind:
- Location availability. Make sure the service offers addresses in areas that make sense for your needs, whether for tax purposes or client accessibility.
- Security measures. Is your virtual address serviced by the company itself, or do they outsource to a third party? You may need to research your mail center independently to verify their protocols for handling sensitive mail and protecting your digital information.
- Pricing structure. How many free envelope or content scans do you get each month? Compare these and also consider storage limits to find the best value for your expected mail volume.
- Additional services. Do you need features like check depositing, package consolidation, or international mail forwarding? Not every virtual mailbox service offers all of these, and prices vary.
- Customer support. Can you get in touch with someone via support chat? What about over the phone? The availability and quality of customer service is important to know, especially if you'll be accessing your mail from different time zones.
Top Consumer Reviews has evaluated and ranked the best virtual mailbox services available. We've assessed factors like reliability, feature sets, pricing, and customer satisfaction to help you make an informed decision. Whether you've got big plans to travel the world or are a small business owner looking to make a more professional impression on your customers, we hope these reviews help you find the perfect virtual mailbox service for your specific needs!
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