I'm moving into a house soon that has a "rural" mailbox on a mail post. Since it can not be locked I am concerned about someone stealing my mail (e.g. ID theft). Hence my question, who sells mailboxes that lock, has a slot for the mailperson to slide mail into, and is less than $30.00? I have searched on the web (Lowes, Ace Hardware, and google) to no avail. The only ones I see are $200.00+.
Thanks for any insight.
---------------------- Scall5
Hi, Can't you make one with wood? Like birdhouse? Tony
If you weld, or know someone, you can reinforce your mailbox. Or make a pipe mailbox. I had the tincan type on a 4x4 wood post when I moved out to the country. Some young hooligans came by and played "mailbox baseball" with it, and destroyed it. Sometimes they would destroy whole rows of them, but mine stood by itself by our cattle guard gate. I put up a shiny new one, and they got that too. I was welding offshore at the time, so got some plate and pipe and made a liner for it. Mounted it to pipe. Put the pipe into cement, and wrapped the pipe column with one bys. Mounted the pipe out of plumb to look like it was rickety, and cocked the box on top of the post.
Within a week, I got a hit. Then, after that, about only one every year or two. A small dent that just made it look crummier on the outside and more inviting to mailbox baseball players. The little darlings would connect one time, and that was it. They wouldn't touch it again. Then when they graduated high school, the new crowd would go cruising out in the country bashing mailboxes. I never saw them, but would have given a days pay to.
As to your question, I have no clue where you would find one for that price unless you create one yourself, and just have to pay for materials. $30 mailboxes went the way of the 5 cent cigar. The one I have now was $250, and I got that after someone stole checks and washed them.
Steve
Don't know where to get a locking mailbox, but the fact that it is a
*rural* area somewhat lessens the need for one. I live in a rural area in NY and some people don't even lock their doors here. I have had books and computer software delivered by mail that were left attached to the roadside mailbox with a rubber band. Run out of stamps? Just leave the unstamped envelope(s) and the correct change in the mailbox. But, whatever makes you feel safer.
someone
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baseball"
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Put the pipe
the pipe out
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would connect one
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the country
days pay to.
for that price
materials. $30
was $250,
Dude,
Reading your reply (and your real life experience) made it all worth my posting! Thanks for the info and the laughs (Scall5 right now is imagining a teenager wringing out his hand for a day or so and is LMAO!!). :)
I never saw them, but would have given a
that's great! I love the rickety bait part. My friend did a similar thing -- he took one of the smaller "normal sized" mailboxes, and dropped it into a large "rural oversized" mailbox, then poured concrete around it. He got a free aluminum bat out of that one.
I had several mailboxes smashed, so I took a piece of conceiled hi- voltage wire, and hooked the mailbox to my electric fence with a switch, and would turn it on, on Saturday nights. That aluminum bat would have worked marvels on this setup. It would have worked great except I forgot to tuen it off and the mailman got zapped, and refused to deliver my mail until I disconnected it. I even got an official notice from the post office (OOPS).
ask the post office...
On Fri, 08 Oct 2004 23:07:59 -0500 " snipped-for-privacy@nospam.com" used 20 lines of text to write in newsgroup: alt.home.repair
Bullshit..
-Graham
Remove the 'snails' from my email
I was concerned with all the balance transfer checks, credit card applications, etc. that the credit card companies keep sending me. Someone did use one of my credit card numbers, to buy $205 worth of something at a drugstore in Berwin, IL (while I was out of town), but was tripped up ordering 3 sets of flowers using the name M. Parker (not my name) flagging the credit card company to contact me. They also tried to internet order something from a Florida travel agency.
So I got a personal P.O. box. It is just a small one, but if I get a large package, they leave a key to a locker in the box. One problem is that many internet sites will only ship to an address registered with the credit card. So I got a secondary address added to one card for UPS shipments to my office.
We dont have a mailbox at all, choosing to use a PO BOX for mail instead....
We just always give the physical location as well as the PO BOX # whenever anyone asks our address......
Example :
C. Harry Butts
12 S. Klystron Drive PO Box 850 Anywhere, Wa. 98627UPS and the other private carriers are smart enough to realize they cant deliver to a PO BOX, and so they ignore it, delivering to the street address instead--and the post office is smart enough to realize they need to put it in the PO BOX, rather than try and deliver to an address thats not on any route.......
We done this ever since moving from our old residence about seven years ago, and its really not been a problem at all........
how about 90 bucks?
Buy a $20 mailbox, a lock hasp ($2.95), lock ($3.95). You can get a mail-slot for free (DIY). You're in under your budget.
I installed one of these at my mother-in-laws house. She really likes it. It wouldn't stand up to mailbox baseballers, but is a decent option.
Steve
"JerryMouse" wrote
One hit with a baseball bat, and you're back to Ace Hardware for another.
Steve
Yep. Troll.
Harry K
What do you do when you want to mail something? Looks like you have to drop it off in town.
Harry K
the Post office does not recommend you leave outgoing mail in a non locked box.
Do a search on mailbox theft and you will see it is huge. Thieve steal outgoing checks and wash them, put there names in then cash them. Since it is outgoing mail you don't even know something went wrong until you get a call about bills not being paid but checks being cashed.
Wayne
message news: snipped-for-privacy@giganews.com...
A full sized rural mail box will take two or three half cinder blocks laid on their side so that the interior cavity is the length of the box. That will make any drive by vandals regret having chosen your box.
-- Tom H
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