The USPS Mailbox

A row of coloful USPS mailboxes

The USPS mailbox has some of the most exotic properties:

  • The USPS pledges to deliver mail addressed to you in your mailbox, 100% free of charge. No purchase necessary!
  • The mailbox itself though, has to be purchased by you, the homeowner.
  • It has to be compliant with strict regulations in terms of size and construction, otherwise the USPS will not deliver mail into it.
  • It's is installed on your actual physical premises.
  • The outside of the mailbox is protected: no one can place anything on it. Those pizza flyers hanging from the flag? Illegal you criminal! (here)
  • Materials without postage may not be placed in a mailbox; you are totally allowed to drop off a letter to your neighbor's mailbox, provided it has the correct postage as if it had been mailed via the USPS, without postage it's illegal!
  • Obstructing access to- & interfering with mail delivery is a criminal offense punishable by law (here, here)