Mailbox Buyers' Guide

Locking Mailboxes - And How They Work  (home use):
Most USPS-approved locking mailboxes suitable for home use work the same basic way.  The letter carrier deposits mail through an incoming mail door or slot.  This is never locked and the letter carrier doesn't carry or need a key.  Indeed letter carriers will not carry a key for home style mailboxes.  (See commercial mailboxes, below.)  The homeowner removes the mail by unlocking a mail-removal door with a key. 

Once deposited in your mailbox, the incoming mail is protected by a variety of methods.  The protection method usually involves a mail-slot that's too small to get a hand through.  In addition, if the mailbox is larger, a series of baffles are included in the incoming mail path.  The baffles are configured to make it extremely difficult to get a hand inside or to remove mail.   Depending on the mailbox, the key-locked door can be in the front, rear, or sometimes both.

Outgoing mail is handled by placing it in a separate compartment in or near the incoming mail door.  Sometimes the outgoing mail is held by a clip.  Sometimes it just sits inside the door.  The outgoing mail must be available to the letter carrier, so it is not locked. 

Why are there so few curbside, rural-style, locking mailboxes?  The reason has to do with the incoming mail slot.  To qualify for USPS approval the incoming mail slot must be a certain size.  Unless the mailbox itself is big enough to accommodate a large enough slot, it will not be approved, and most mailboxes simply aren't large enough.  Approved round-top curbside mailboxes with incoming mail slots are generally 9" wide or wider.  See our Keystone, Lexington, SpecialLite, Whitehall, Imperial, Bellevue, and Coronado models for curbside rural-styles with locking capability.

A note about wall-mounted locking mailboxes.  There are two methods employed here.  In most cases the incoming mail enters through a slot at the top, and is removed by the owner through a key-locked front door.  But some wall-mounted locking mailboxes have a double lid.  The outer lid is unlocked and when lifted, allows access to the inner lid.  The inner lid is locked and has an incoming mail slot through which the letter carrier places incoming mail.  The owner removes the mail by unlocking the inner lid and removing the mail.   

Locking Inserts:  Locking inserts are a relatively recent innovation used to convert a formerly non-locking mailbox to a locking mailbox.  A locking insert should only be used for the mailbox for which it was designed.  The probability that a locking insert will fit a different mailbox is marginal, at best.  Locking inserts essentialy serve as a mail "safe" which is bolted to the inside of a regular curbside mailbox.  The letter carrier carries no key, but rather inserts the mail through an incoming mail slot.  You, the owner, open the door and remove the mail with your key.  The incoming mail slot is too small to get a hand through, preventing theft of your mail.  Additionally, there's usually plenty of room above the locking insert for magazines and 9" x 12" evenelopes, and junk mail.  

Rear Doors : Curbside mailboxes can have rear doors.  These are sometimes called double-door mailboxes.  The owner can remove the mail from the rear of the mailbox but the letter carrier inserts the mail through the front.  They're useful for through-the-fence applications, or for placement along busy roads.  For applications requiring both a front and rear door on the mailbox, look for availability shown by the small R2 next to the mailboxes on the various mailbox pages.  Double-door mailboxes are usually custom made and require additional fabrication time.   

Mailbox Posts:  Mailbox posts are usually not included with mailboxes, except where stated. 

Almost any post will work with any mailbox - except where noted otherwise.  But unless the post and mailbox are from the same manufacturer, some "rig-up" will be required.  This task is usually not beyond the abilities of installers or handy homeowners.  Drilling new holes in the bottom of the mailbox or the mounting plate on the post is usually involved.  Alternately a wood "mounting plate" can be fabricated.  The mounting plate can be drilled with appropriate holes to match the bolt pattern on the mailbox and on the post. 

Most mailbox posts are intended to be put into fresh-poured concrete or surface-mounted to a concrete base. If you intend to use an in-ground post, you can expect to dig 18" into the ground and pour two or three bags of concrete to support the post.  If you order a surface mount post, it is bolted down to a pre-existing concrete base; to bolts that are left protruding at the time the concrete is poured, or using "Red-Head" or similar bolts that are made to anchor into holes drilled into the concrete. 

Some mailbox posts are intended to be installed over a 4 x 4 treated wood post, as denoted on the website.  Please be aware that a standard 4 x 4 wood post is actually 3½" x 3½".  In most cases the post is put 18" deep into the ground.    

Custom Made From "Scratch":  Although some of our mailboxes are custom made, they are made according to USPS pre-approved designs.  We cannot fabricate a mailbox from "scratch."  Example:  we will sometimes receive a request for a mailbox that looks like an ambulance or a motorcycle.  We cannot make this type of mailbox.  A number of our mailboxes are custom made, especially the Design-Your-Own group, and those where the address is engraved or otherwise permanently affixed to the mailbox.  Custom made mailboxes are generally non-refundable.  See Returns.    

Materials:  Aluminum?  Steel?  Powder Coat Steel? Powder Coat Aluminum?
If you live in a severe climate or along the seashore, an all-aluminum mailbox is your best bet.  Aluminum can never rust - although it does corrode or oxodize with time.  Powder coated aluminum, however, probably provides the safest "bet" in extreme conditions.  Powder coat steel, however, is extremely durable and will probably last twenty or more years, even in extreme conditions.  Powder coating is a painting method whereby the item being painted is electrically charged while the paint is applied.  The electrical charge causes the paint to adhere extraordinarily well to the underlying metal.  It is such a good process that many aircraft engine parts are powder-coat finished.  You'll see the powder coat specification on many of our mailboxes.  

Be cognizant of the hardware used on the mailbox you purchase.  Quality mailboxes use stainless steel or brass hardware to prevent rust    

Multiple "Tenant" Mailboxes and Group Mailboxes:  There are a variety of types in this category. There are CBUs (Cluster Box Unites), Spreader Plates, and Long Beam Groups. 

We'll begin with CBUs.  You've seen CBUs. You've seen them in use at shopping centers, apartment complexes, and in newer neighborhoods.  They are large aluminum structures with 8, 12, 13, or 16 incoming mailboxes, an outgoing mail compartment, and one or two parcel lockers.  CBUs can only be used in commercial installations and installation must be pre-approved by the local Post Office.  CBUs cannot be altered or changed in any way and are strictly controlled by the USPS.  When a CBU is delivered, the Post Office installs an Arrow Lock in the CBU.  This locks the entire front door.  The front door contains all of the tenant mailbox doors, each locked and each postal patro retains a key or keys to his box.  When the letter carrier arrives he uses his key to the Arrow Lock and swings open the entire front door - after which he pops all the mail into the various tenant mailboxes.  He then locks the door. Postal patrons can open only their compartment door with their key.  If there's a parcel, the letter carrier leaves the parcel locker key in the tenant mailbox.  Once the tenant opens the parcel locker the key cannot be removed again, except by the letter carrier.  There is only one manufacturer currently able to supply large volumes of CBU's - Auth Florence, which is the brand we carry.

Spreader Plate Mailboxes: Many of our mailboxes are available with Spreaders.  A Spreader is a steel plate designed to hold two, three, or four mailboxes.  The point of a spreader is economy, both of space and price.  By using a spreader the cost of additional posts and the installation of those posts is eliminated.  Although it's possible to use a spreader made by one manufacturer with mailboxes made by another, this is not a wise choice.  The spreader and the mailbox won't be drilled to match and will require re-drilling by the installer - not easy in the heavy steel of the spreader plate.  In addition, it's more than likely the color of the spreader won't match that of the mailboxes.  So it's best to stick with one manufacturer for the post, the mailboxes, and the spreader plate itself.

Group Mailboxes:  There's really not an official name for this type of setup.  What it amounts to is a long bar, shelf, or rail, wiith a post on each end, on which multiple curbside mailboxes are mounted.   We have several of these setups for up to eight mailboxes.

 

Powder Coating:  Much is made about powder coating, but what is it?  Powder coating is a painting process that's extraordinarily durable.  Painting is accomplished by applying an electrical charge to the (e.g.) mailbox and an opposite electrical charge to the paint.  Paint sprayed on in this fashion is extremely adherent to the substrate - the material being painted.  Powder coating is such a durable finish that numerous airplaine engine parts are powder coated.  An unscratched powder-coated mailbox can last 100 years or more without difficulty.  Don't misunderstand the word "unscratched".  Powder-coat finishes are extremely tough, but they're not impossible to scratch.  If scratched, bare metal is exposed and the protection of the powder-coating in that area is gone, exposing the metal to corrosion.  But even a scratched powder-coat mailbox can last 50 years.   

Copper and Brass Mailboxes:  All of our copper and our brass mailboxes are coated with a clear lacquer to preserve the finish.  No amount of lacquer, however, will last indefinitely.  After a number of years sun and rain will cause the copper or brass to darken and after even more years copper will begin to get the "verdigris" look, like the Statue of Liberty.  You can accelerate the process by ordering your copper mailbox uncoated.  The absence of lacquer allows the mailbox to begin to oxidize immediately so that the desirable verdigris color is achieved years earlier.  Brass will simply darken after the lacquer coating wears off after ten or more years.  Brass can be polished back to its original lustre with a quality brass polish and you can be re-coated with laquer. 

Bulk Commercial Orders, Homeowners Associations, and Contractors:   Let us know what you need, by going to THIS PAGE.  Fill out the page and send it to us.  We will deliver a quotation to you by the next business day, often sooner.   

Arrow Locks for Commercial Mailboxes:  An Arrow lock is a lock installed by the United States Post Office.  CBUs - Cluster Box Units - have arrow locks installed.  You don't get a key to the Arrow lock.  Only the letter carrier has the key.  Instead you have a key to a separate lock that opens either the same or a different door to the same compartment, depending on the mailbox design.  Commercial mailboxes with Arrow locks are reserved for business applications.  Installed at home, the USPS generally will not deliver to Arrow-lock boxes except in hardship cases which must be approved by the USPS in advance.   

USPS Approval: Almost all of the mailboxes we carry are USPS approved.  Generally, letter carriers will deliver to any mailbox that's reasonable, even if not USPS approved, but this is mainly for home mailboxes.  In commercial situations, the USPS will balk at a non-approved mailbox and usually will not deliver to it.   Curbside placement in home situations is important and if properly placed you should have no problems.  The USPS likes a certain setback from the curb and a certain height to the floor of the mailbox - but this is a local consideration.  Consult with your local Post Office for the preferred measurements for both setback and height. 

Returns:  In accordance with our Refund Policy most mailboxes can be returned for a full merchandise refund provided they are returned according to these procedures..  Custom-made mailboxes, however, or mailboxes which have been altered to include a name or address are non-refundable, except for defects.   

Vandal-Resistant and Tamper-Resistant:  Vandals try to harm your mailbox.  Thieves will tamper with your mail - they could care less about the mailbox.  These are obviously two very different considerations. But the strength built in to tamper-resistant mailboxes makes them vandal resistant to varying degrees.  Any of our Locking Mailboxes qualifies as Tamper-Resistant.  Vandal-Resistant Mailboxes, however, are made of heavy-gauge steel - the heavier the better.  Our Heavy-Built Mailboxes can support a trailer truck driving over them without damage.  Additionally, our LetterLocker Mailboxes are extremely durable and serve a variety of functions - home and commercial.  For our complete selection see our Vandal-Resistant Mailboxes page.