Nowadays, to receive a parcel without giving your address is rather easy and simple. People usually look for an answer to this question when they order goods online, or just don’t want to inform the sender about their whereabouts.
You may not wish to receive shipments at home for a variety of reasons. Perhaps no one is home throughout the day to accept the shipment safely. Maybe you’re out shopping for gifts and don’t want your family to know what you’re getting. Or you just live in a walk-up apartment that refuses to accept deliveries. Alternatively, you may find it more convenient to pick up your deliveries elsewhere and bring them home yourself.
Because of the convenience and variety of online shops, more and more of us are shopping online these days. The obvious disadvantage of online shopping is that products must be delivered to a physical address.
Package reception services are an excellent way to avoid having products delivered to your home address. There are 3 main ways which you can use to receive a parcel without giving your address. Firstly, there are package lockers systems provided by most Post Offices in the UK. You can also register for a PO Box or simply deliver your package to a friend, your neighbors, or to your office.
These solutions can be just what you need if you don’t want to share your home address for any reason or if you want to keep your privacy, especially if you purchase and sell things online and require a professional address.
So, let’s see the available services and different ways that allow you to receive a parcel without giving your address in the UK.
Table of Contents hide
11. Get your Package delivered to your Local Post Office
22. Register for a PO Box
33. Package Receiving Services
44. Use Stasher’s luggage shipping
55. Parcel Locker Services
6Practical Solutions, Safe delivery, and Items’ collection
1. Get your Package delivered to your Local Post Office
The local Post Office can accept your packages and store them until you’re ready to collect them. However, most post offices will keep your parcel from 14 to 30 days upon collection, depending on the Post Office. Delivering your package to your local post office protects your packages from theft and weather damage, and ensures that they will be ready for you to pick up when it is most convenient for you.
The addressee can always receive an eligible package to the address of his/her preference and pick it up at a Post Office, but there will be a postage fee. This is mostly known as a Local Collect Service.
In other words, you can use Royal Mail, Post Office UK, or Poste Restante services to have your packages delivered to a branch of your preference around the UK. The package will be sent to your local post office, where it will be stored for 30 days before being returned to the sender.
Poste Restante is a service that allows people who do not have a permanent address in the UK to receive their parcels or mail and pick them up for free at any participating Post Office branch in the United Kingdom.
2. Register for a PO Box
There’s always a parcel locker in UK’s Post Offices. Keep in mind that PO Boxes are meant to hold both mail and packages. When establishing a location for individuals to send mail, a post office box can be used instead of a street address, but not when someone wants to identify himself to the government.
When it comes to sending mail, it’s similar to regular addresses. Customers mail letters and goods to the company’s PO box address, just as they would to any other address. You will need a key or a locking code to retrieve your mail from your postal box as a company owner. Traditional mailboxes, like traditional addresses, are placed within post offices and do not have distinct street addresses. Instead, along with your business name, city, and postal code, your mailbox will have a unique number.
Because Post Office boxes are not physical addresses, firms cannot use them as their registered business address in the United Kingdom. So, it is a legal necessity that your company is registered with a current physical address. This is an address where HMRC and Companies House can send formal communications.
Like the parcel locker, PO Boxes are contactless and can be restricted to specific hours of the day. Before using one as your receiving address, double-check with your shipping company. This is because some businesses do not deliver to PO boxes and they require a street address.
3. Package Receiving Services
Package receiving services are a great way to get items delivered to a location other than your home address. They’re also beneficial if you need to have something delivered in secrecy. The great advantage of package delivery services is that they can store your products, provide you with an address, and deliver your goods to a storage unit/depot.
One of the most significant benefits of a package receiving service is that it provides you with a real street address to which things can be delivered. Many e-commerce businesses won’t ship to PO boxes or anything else than an actual street address, so this is useful.
Most of these services will ask you to register at their website and pick an eligible address or location in the UK for delivery. Some companies don’t require any membership fees, and your account will include a provided UK shipping address and phone number.
Furthermore, package receiving services provide a distinct advantage when dealing with cross-border shipments. So, using this service when you’re staying somewhere different than your usual location can be the greatest option. Some of these services include ParcelFlow, Forward2me, and Poste Restante.
For instance, if you want to make an online purchase and you’re on a work trip, or holiday, or simply don’t want to give your real address these services give you the solution for the delivery of your item/s. Many small-town online retailers avoid shipping over state or national borders. Using a package acceptance service allows you to have packages delivered across the UK and then pick them up yourself.
4. Use Stasher’s luggage shipping
Bear in mind that Stasher does not only provide luggage storage locations but also hassle-free lugagge shipping. Stasher’s package receiving service is an affordable and simple way to send or receive your luggage across the UK. There are various advantages to using Stasher instead of a courier for shipping. Stasher picks up your bags from your door after you finish your online booking and sends your items safely to your preferred destination. So, you can rely on Stasher to manage your luggage with care and precision, ensuring that you won’t encounter any complications during the delivery process.
5. Parcel Locker Services
We live in a fast-paced world where everyone expects a secure, convenient, efficient delivery and collection experience. So, if you don’t want to give out your home address, package lockers are another option for receiving a parcel. With parcel locker services, you can have your things delivered to you in a locker that is convenient for you.
A great advantage of parcel lockers is that they eliminate the need for mail handling personnel by tracking deliveries and notifying recipients. Mail handlers’ time spent delivering goods can be reassigned to more productive tasks, saving time and lowering mail management costs.
Parcel locker services tend to facilitate shipping and deliveries by using secure stand-alone locker solutions. Note that most of the transfer and delivery stations allow for contactless delivery and collection. Some of these services in the UK include InPost, Intelligent Parcel Lockers, and Simplicity Lockers.
The service is quite simple; after receiving a parcel or item, the management team will assign the recipient a locker and place the item(s) inside. Customers receive a code through SMS or an email when their items are delivered to the locker. The recipient can then pick up their package at a time that is convenient for them.
Once delivered to a locker, parcels are kept safe until their intended recipients pick them up. Staff is relieved of the burden of looking after objects, and there is no chance that they will be delivered to the incorrect individual. And, if you don’t want to miss your deliveries these fast-growing services have numerous parcel lockers across the UK that can accommodate your needs. As time is important nowadays, with parcel lockers you can achieve a better work-life balance by having your parcels delivered in a convenient and secure manner.
Practical Solutions, Safe delivery, and Items’ collection
Let’s face it, parcel deliveries can be complicated at times but technology and innovative solutions are already at our doorstep. As a matter of fact, COVID-19 and the increasing purchases from international online e-commerce companies broadened the shipping network and offered contactless deliveries, safe storage services, and worldwide delivery solutions.
Now, all you have to do if you don’t want to provide a mailing address is choose your preferred method for receiving your parcel, choose an address, Post Office, or a PO box and pay the postage fees (optional).
While online purchasing is quickly becoming the standard, it comes with its own set of difficulties. Most of the time, in order to receive a package you must provide your home address. But, not everyone wants to reveal their personal address for their own reasons. For this reason, package receiving services, parcel lockers, and practical solutions provided by the most prominent Post Offices in the UK have given the solution for safe deliveries and convenient parcel collection.
George Mouratidis
Content manager at Stasher. I love anything related to travel, vintage Italian cinema, digital nomadism, music and cats.
