I Need to ship items to NY but don't know a soul there anymore.

September 21, 2006 9:46 PM

I need to ship a few large boxes of clothing and personal items from the West coast to NYC. However I don't know anyone in NY to ship them to. Does anyone have suggestions on how to do this, or know of a trustworthy service that will accept shipped items until I get there?
posted by debu to Travel & Transportation around New York, NY (10 answers total)

Most van lines can offer this service. Generally, you pay by weight, volume, and length of storage (and maybe whether you need airconditioned storage for furs, leathers, etc.) When you get settled, you call to arrange delivery.
posted by paulsc at 9:54 PM on September 21, 2006

What neighborhood do you need to ship to? i've dealt with various chain (UPS, Mailboxes Etc) and independent mailbox shops in NY and never had a problem with them holding packages for me, sometimes for several weeks. If you let us know where you need to end up, I'm sure someone here can locate a shop that's convenient to your destination. I'm all about Park Slope, but I know the rest of the city is well represented.
posted by sonofslim at 9:56 PM on September 21, 2006

Depending on how large the boxes are, could you send them to general delivery at the Farley post office next to MSG?
posted by Calloused_Foot at 9:58 PM on September 21, 2006

If you use U.S. Postal Service, you can generally ship to a specific post office and ask them to "Hold for Debu until DATE." I did that when I went to Maine from Virginia in 2000, at least, and it worked pretty well.
posted by croutonsupafreak at 9:58 PM on September 21, 2006

The service that croutonsupafreak describes is called poste restante, or "general delivery" in the US.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 10:17 PM on September 21, 2006

Response by poster: A lot of it is meda mail so hold at post would be perfect...
Somehow the most obvious answer slipped my mind.
(btw Park Slope is the area I'm shipping to) thank you!
posted by debu at 11:16 PM on September 21, 2006

if you have an amex card, you can ship stuff to a local office...I did this when I transferred to Hawaii so I could have some uniforms and the like without having to lug them on leave and then to my new base.

Bus Lines/amtrak used to ship stuff and then hold it in the left luggage room, dunno if the post 9/11 paranoia has stopped that.

reg
posted by legotech at 3:04 AM on September 22, 2006

Greyhound bus lines still ships stuff and holds it until you come get it. It's a good way of moving stuff across the country cheaply. I wouldn't send anything really valuble that way though.
posted by Melsky at 4:58 AM on September 22, 2006

I would strongly recommend against shipping it to a post office care of general delivery. A lot of stuff gets lost this way. If you're going to do that, be sure to insure it. Better choice is to go with a Mailboxes, Etc. or something like that. Get someone on the phone, get their name, confirm it can be done and how.
posted by allkindsoftime at 6:47 AM on September 22, 2006

If you want to go with a neighborhood shop in the Slope, I recommend Mailboxes on 5th. [phone]. I've been using them for delivery for several years now, the owner is a good guy and he won't lose your stuff. He charges $1 to receive a package.

Plus he leaves the exact same voicemail every time I get something that's not in a big box: "This is George from Mailboxes on Fifth; you have a small package." My inner 12-year-old finds that ceaselessly amusing.
posted by sonofslim at 8:10 AM on September 22, 2006