Mailbox rental address' for DBA

8 replies
I have an LLC, and I'm looking to add a DBA to that for my marketing startup.

Before filing the DBA paperwork for the state(CA), and publicly announcing it for 4 consecutive weeks in a newspaper; I want to get a mailbox rented with a physical address to use for this company in the filings with the county.

California doesn't allow p.o. boxes for a company address in the filings, so the US post office is out of the question.

The local UPS store charges between $293-$540 per year depending on box size for businesses. Initially this seemed like the most reliable choice since this particular UPS store is pretty busy and has been around for at least the three years I've been here.

The only problem I have is the address seems kind of funky. #### would be the box number. All the UPS stores in the area have suite numbers already in their address, since all of them seem to be located in strip malls/plazas

at the UPS store it would be:

Company Name
12345 Main street
Suite D - #####
Los Angeles, CA 99999



other mailbox companies are further away, and in this area you can really get some prime addresses street&zipcodes. I am assuming that most communication will be via email, I'm not sure how frequent I will need to visit the mailbox.

One convenience of the UPS store is that they have email alerts when you get mail in your box, a couple others I've checked don't seem to have this feature. Other mailbox rental services I've found still have the box number as the suite, but not the double suite numbers that the UPS stores have.

Would you go for the convienence of a UPS store, or a nicer looking address?

My marketing will be online that I foresee. But, I've put the question in this section since its more bout the business back-end than it is about online marketing.
#address #dba #mailbox #rental
  • Profile picture of the author Rus Sells
    Usually consultancies would most likely use an executive suite that provides office pace and board rooms by the day.

    If you plan to market your DBA in the local space, namely Google. Then using a PO box is bad news for you on this account.

    I know there are many businesses who use virtual addresses and office services and because of that many have the same address and discourage it.

    However, Google easily knows the difference by business name and phone number as well which is 2/3 of the NAP. You should also choose to hide your address in your Local plus profile and use the radius feature for areas you service. Yes some might say you can meet just a couple of clients a month at your address and can justify not hiding your address.

    Truth is, hiding your address has zero negative effect on ranking so it doesn't matter either way and when you hide your address it doesn't doesn't appear in the main listings. I kind of like this because it just displays the business name and phone number.



    Originally Posted by Rbtmarshall View Post

    I have an LLC, and I'm looking to add a DBA to that for my marketing startup.

    Before filing the DBA paperwork for the state(CA), and publicly announcing it for 4 consecutive weeks in a newspaper; I want to get a mailbox rented with a physical address to use for this company in the filings with the county.

    California doesn't allow p.o. boxes for a company address in the filings, so the US post office is out of the question.

    The local UPS store charges between $293-$540 per year depending on box size for businesses. Initially this seemed like the most reliable choice since this particular UPS store is pretty busy and has been around for at least the three years I've been here.

    The only problem I have is the address seems kind of funky. #### would be the box number. All the UPS stores in the area have suite numbers already in their address, since all of them seem to be located in strip malls/plazas

    at the UPS store it would be:

    Company Name
    12345 Main street
    Suite D - #####
    Los Angeles, CA 99999



    other mailbox companies are further away, and in this area you can really get some prime addresses street&zipcodes. I am assuming that most communication will be via email, I'm not sure how frequent I will need to visit the mailbox.

    One convenience of the UPS store is that they have email alerts when you get mail in your box, a couple others I've checked don't seem to have this feature. Other mailbox rental services I've found still have the box number as the suite, but not the double suite numbers that the UPS stores have.

    Would you go for the convienence of a UPS store, or a nicer looking address?

    My marketing will be online that I foresee. But, I've put the question in this section since its more bout the business back-end than it is about online marketing.
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  • Profile picture of the author Rbtmarshall
    Thanks for the reply

    You've brought up a few points I haven't considered. And I'm not sure I need to. At this time, I'm not looking for clients, so I'm not sure optimizing my company address for search engine's anything I need to focus on.

    fist off I do not want to try and pull any shady tricks to hide my address from the state or any other government or tax business. My thinking was that the DBA will sill be linked to my LLC with the government, so I assumed this would be OK and not anything illegal as far as that goes.

    At this time, I will not be consulting with local business for marketing, so I didn't see any need for an office yet . In the future I may need an office and/or move to offline services if the profits and my performance justify it.


    My main reason for this DBA is to organize all my marketing through it. domains, hosting, revenue, affiliate networks, etc. I was trying to avoid using my home address for all of that.
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    • Profile picture of the author Rus Sells
      Just to be clear in case I didn't make it clear. Its just a Google TOS thing. If you're a "type" of company that would mainly meet with clients at their place of business or home or you don't visit clients and they don't really come to see you to conduct business Google wants you to hide your address in your local plus profile. That's all.

      Originally Posted by Rbtmarshall View Post

      Thanks for the reply

      You've brought up a few points I haven't considered. And I'm not sure I need to. At this time, I'm not looking for clients, so I'm not sure optimizing my company address for search engine's anything I need to focus on.

      fist off I do not want to try and pull any shady tricks to hide my address from the state or any other government or tax business. My thinking was that the DBA will sill be linked to my LLC with the government, so I assumed this would be OK and not anything illegal as far as that goes.

      At this time, I will not be consulting with local business for marketing, so I didn't see any need for an office yet . In the future I may need an office and/or move to offline services if the profits and my performance justify it.


      My main reason for this DBA is to organize all my marketing through it. domains, hosting, revenue, affiliate networks, etc. I was trying to avoid using my home address for all of that.
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      • Profile picture of the author midasman09
        Banned
        In 3 States...Illinois, Colorado and Oregon...I went to an independent "Package" place that rents Boxes. My last one is "Box 113" so...I use the Street Address of the package place and put "Suite 113" on the same line of the addy and whala...never a problem.

        The UPS Store is spendy but the 2 independent stores are $55 every 6 mos. However, I'm in a small town.

        Don Alm
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  • Profile picture of the author 300SMG
    Here in NY, we have certain independent type stores that provide a service much like the UPS store or Mailbox Etc. They always seem to run a bit less expensive and that's the route I went for my first 'at home' business.
    Signature

    Don't focus on the money - focus on the plan!

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  • Profile picture of the author J. Barry Mandel
    Check Save time and money with Online mail management for Mail and Parcel Forwarding, Virtual Mailrooms, Borderless Shopping and more | Earth Class Mail

    They have addresses that don't appear as P.O. Boxes, so this might be your cheapest and best solution.

    And yes, they can forward any letters or packages to any mail address that you physically have.

    I've used them for about the last 3 years

    Good Luck!
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  • Profile picture of the author Rbtmarshall
    Thanks all. I don't need mail forwarding due to added cost, I'll just drive there.

    I'm definitely going for a mailbox rental, I just found the perfect address.

    Rus Sells, thanks for the heads up on Google's TOS, I'll avoid associating it, at this stage it shouldn't affect my plan.
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    • Profile picture of the author njs7227
      Originally Posted by Rbtmarshall View Post

      Thanks all. I don't need mail forwarding due to added cost, I'll just drive there.

      I'm definitely going for a mailbox rental, I just found the perfect address.

      Rus Sells, thanks for the heads up on Google's TOS, I'll avoid associating it, at this stage it shouldn't affect my plan.
      Did you know that the U.S. post office does have STREET ADDRESS p.o. boxes? I was just reading about it last week - here's the URL from USPS (not an affiliate link LOL) USPS street addressing

      I haven't gone to check it out yet but it's supposed to be cheaper than the normal UPS/Mail Boxes Etc options.
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