Guide · checked October 28, 2026
Virtual mailbox mail forwarding costs, compared
When a virtual mailbox forwards your mail, you pay two things: the provider's handling fee and the postage. The postage goes to the carrier and depends on weight, size, speed and destination. The handling fee is the provider's own charge, and it ranges from nothing to more than $20 for one box of 20 letters. This page puts every published handling fee side by side, works out what it costs at 1, 5, 10 and 20 items, and shows the USPS postage that sits on top. Every figure links to the page we read it from on October 28, 2026.
Each provider's forwarding fee
| Provider | Handling fee | What the provider says |
|---|---|---|
| Stable | $0 + postage | Mail shipping: "Ship mail or packages to a physical location (add-on cost of postage)." It says it negotiates carrier rates and "can also combine mail and packages going to the same address". Auto-ship comes with the Scale and Custom plans. [source] |
| iPostal1 | $0 for letters; $1.95 per package or letter-pack consolidated; $1.95 for any number of magazines | "See real-time shipping prices; select carrier and level of service preferred. International shipping not available at all locations." "Additional charge for packaging materials may be applied." Plans include "Flexible shipment scheduling (on request, weekly, bi-weekly, monthly)". [source] |
| Traveling Mailbox | $2 per shipment | "We simply charge Postage + $2 per shipment (not per item). So a shipment of 10 items is still Postage + $2 for all 10 items." Ships via USPS, UPS and FedEx, worldwide, and offers an auto-forwarding schedule. [source] |
| PostScan Mail | $2.00 first item + $0.50 each additional | "Mail items can be bundled into a single package and forwarded: $2.00 for the first item, then $0.50 per additional item plus the cost of shipping." Package lockers list a separate $2 (Basic) or $1 (Premium) forwarding fee per item. [source] |
| Earth Class Mail (LegalZoom) | Domestic $1.25/shipment + $1/item; international $5/shipment + $1/item; expedited $10/shipment + $1/item | Shipments up to 150 lb and 15.5 x 24 x 18.5 inches. Special packaging: medium box $5, large box $10, custom packaging $12.50 per 10 minutes. [source] |
| US Global Mail | $0 handling; repack $5 per box or $2 per letter when consolidating | "We process your mail— scanning, shipping, organizing, check deposit -without tacking on extra handling charges." Under consolidation: "A repack fee applies depending on the type of items being consolidated: $5 per box, $2 per letter". [help center] Its pricing page lists ship, sort, shred and return-to-sender on both plans. [pricing] |
| PhysicalAddress.com | Not published (carrier postage) | "Forwarding fees will be similar to what you would find going directly to USPS, FedEx, UPS, and DHL – sometimes, they'll even be cheaper ... Our goal is to keep shipping costs at or below what you would get at those carriers." No separate handling fee is listed. [source] |
| Anytime Mailbox | Set by each location | Each mail center sets its own fees. Its FAQ says you can forward "to any destination in the world" and that packages may owe "taxes or duty fees" depending on contents. [source] |
| Opus Virtual Offices | Not published | The terms say mail forwarding and other requested actions "may be billed at applicable administrative and/or specifically scheduled rates", and for FedEx, UPS, DHL or other express shipping you must give Opus an account to charge. [terms] |
"Not published" means we couldn't find a handling price on the provider's own site, so we don't guess one. Plan prices, scan fees and storage rules are on each provider page.
Handling fee for one shipment
Handling fees alone, before postage, for one domestic shipment of letters. US Global Mail is shown twice because its help center lists the repack fee under consolidation: a single item has no handling fee, and if the $2-per-letter repack fee applies to each letter you bundle, the right-hand figures are what you'd pay.
| Provider | 1 item | 5 items | 10 items | 20 items |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stable | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| iPostal1 (letters) | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Traveling Mailbox | $2.00 | $2.00 | $2.00 | $2.00 |
| PostScan Mail | $2.00 | $4.00 | $6.50 | $11.50 |
| Earth Class Mail (domestic) | $2.25 | $6.25 | $11.25 | $21.25 |
| Earth Class Mail (international) | $6.00 | $10.00 | $15.00 | $25.00 |
| US Global Mail (if repack applies per letter) | $0 | $10.00 | $20.00 | $40.00 |
Formulas: PostScan Mail $2 + $0.50 × (items − 1); Earth Class Mail $1.25 (or $5) + $1 × items. iPostal1 packages and letter-packs add $1.95 each when consolidated. PhysicalAddress.com, Anytime Mailbox and Opus are left out because no handling fee is published. US Global Mail's repack wording is from its help center, not its pricing page; ask it how the fee applies to letters before you rely on either row.
Weekly or monthly? Batching changes the bill
Say you get 20 letters a month you actually want in paper. Forwarding them every week (4 shipments of 5) or once a month (1 shipment of 20) costs this much in handling:
| Provider | Weekly (4 × 5 letters) | Monthly (1 × 20 letters) |
|---|---|---|
| Stable | $0 | $0 |
| iPostal1 | $0 | $0 |
| Traveling Mailbox | $8.00 | $2.00 |
| PostScan Mail | $16.00 | $11.50 |
| Earth Class Mail (domestic) | $25.00 | $21.25 |
| US Global Mail (if repack applies per letter) | $40.00 | $40.00 |
A flat per-shipment fee (Traveling Mailbox) rewards waiting and batching; a per-item fee (Earth Class Mail, PostScan Mail after the first item) barely cares how you batch. Postage usually falls per letter when you batch too, because one heavier envelope or box costs less than many separate ones. The trade-off is time: mail you batch monthly sits in storage for up to a month, so check the free storage period (30 days at Traveling Mailbox, iPostal1 and Stable; 90 days for letters at PhysicalAddress.com) before you pick a schedule. [Traveling Mailbox] [iPostal1] [Stable] [PhysicalAddress.com]
To put forwarding together with your plan, scans, shredding and check deposits, enter your month in the cost calculator; it applies the same published handling fees. The side-by-side comparison shows forwarding next to every other fee.
The postage part (USPS examples)
Postage is the bigger number for most shipments, and no provider publishes a full rate table: Traveling Mailbox, PostScan Mail and US Global Mail each have a shipping calculator, iPostal1 shows "real-time shipping prices" when you request a shipment. [Traveling Mailbox] [PostScan Mail] [US Global Mail] [iPostal1] For scale, these are retail prices from the official USPS price list effective October 4, 2026: [USPS Notice 123]
| Service | Retail price |
|---|---|
| First-Class Mail letter, stamped, 1 oz | $0.82 (metered $0.78) |
| First-Class Mail large envelope (flat), 1 oz / 13 oz | $1.69 / $5.24 |
| Priority Mail Flat Rate Envelope | $13.90 (commercial $11.97) |
| Priority Mail Small / Medium Flat Rate Box | $14.65 / $25.80 |
| Priority Mail Express Flat Rate Envelope | $38.25 (commercial $33.46) |
| First-Class Mail International letter, 1 oz | $1.75 (Canada, Mexico and other countries) |
| Priority Mail International Flat Rate Envelope | $32.65 Canada; $48.80 Mexico; up to $62.35 other price groups |
| Priority Mail Express International Flat Rate Envelope | $62.70 Canada; up to $102.50 other price groups |
Carriers and discounts differ by provider. US Global Mail says it passes on negotiated FedEx, UPS and DHL discounts, "Except for USPS which does not offer discounts", and that its calculator figures are estimates confirmed when the items are packed. [US Global Mail] Traveling Mailbox says "We pass our shipping discounts directly to you"; Stable says it negotiates discounted rates; PhysicalAddress.com aims for "at or below" carrier prices. [Traveling Mailbox] [Stable] [PhysicalAddress.com] Big, light boxes may be billed by dimensional weight, which US Global Mail explains on its rates page. [US Global Mail]
Ask before you sign up if the all-in number matters: one r/digitalnomad user says they couldn't get a forwarding estimate from support before signing up. [Reddit] The shipping calculators above are the closest thing to a quote.
Compared with USPS forwarding
If you still have a home address, USPS itself may be cheaper. Standard mail forwarding after a change of address is free for First-Class Mail, Priority Mail, Priority Mail Express and USPS Ground Advantage, and lasts 12 months; filing online costs a $1.25 identity verification fee. [USPS] Two catches: USPS notes that government agencies and financial institutions "do not allow forwarding of sensitive documents", including driver licenses, voter registration, credit cards and bank statements, and forwarding ends after 12 months unless you buy Extended Mail Forwarding (6 months $26, 12 months $39, 18 months $52). [USPS] [Notice 123]
USPS Premium Forwarding Service Residential packs your mail into a weekly Priority Mail shipment for $26.40 to enroll online ($28.70 at a Post Office) plus $29.70 per weekly shipment, so $118.80 for four weeks plus the enrollment. [Notice 123] [USPS] For comparison, Traveling Mailbox's $15 Basic plan plus four weekly shipments in a retail Priority Mail Flat Rate Envelope comes to $15 + 4 × ($2 + $13.90) = $78.60, and it scans every envelope. Premium Forwarding doesn't scan anything. Neither USPS option works once you've given up the home address; then you need a mailbox. If you're choosing between those, see virtual mailbox vs PO Box vs UPS Store.
Cutting the forwarding bill
- Forward less. Scan and shred what you only need to read. Shredding is free at Traveling Mailbox, Stable, US Global Mail, PhysicalAddress.com and Earth Class Mail. See each provider page for scan prices.
- Schedule it. iPostal1 offers weekly, bi-weekly or monthly shipments; Traveling Mailbox offers an auto-forwarding schedule; Stable's Scale plan auto-ships. [iPostal1] [Traveling Mailbox] [Stable]
- Mind the location. At iPostal1 and Anytime Mailbox the address is run by a local mail center, so international shipping and fees depend on the location you pick. [iPostal1] [Anytime Mailbox]
- Abroad, add duties. Packages can owe import taxes in the destination country; Anytime Mailbox says so in its FAQ, and iPostal1 prepares the commercial invoice for international shipments. [Anytime Mailbox] [iPostal1]
- Paper checks? Mailing a check to your bank is billed as a check deposit, not forwarding, at several providers. See check deposit fees compared.
- RVers and full-timers: Texas won't accept proof-of-address mail with a forwarding label on it; see South Dakota, Texas and Florida rules.
This is general information from providers' published pages and the USPS price list, not legal or financial advice. Fees change; each figure links to the page we read it from on October 28, 2026.