Private Mailbox and General Store

Love this place! Speed service and friendly staff. I come here a few times a month to drop off packages and pickup mailing supplies and each time is a breeze. Unlike the post office next door the folks here will take extra care and go out of their way to help you out.

Great neighborhood resource. I’ve used this place for notary services. Quick and reasonably priced. Raymond is an all around nice guy. He’ll even tell you when it is less expensive to use the post office next door. Many residents in the neighborhood use his private mailbox service. He can also ship UPS and FedEx packages.

After rearranging my entire day to get to this place for notary service, the notary was not here. Really? And there’s only one notary? Grr. Not happy.
Also the place is a dump; I’m never going back.

Racist Establishment Do Not Go Here!!! I went in to buy some stamps and I seen a lovely keychain I picked it up and put it back on the rack and some employee said I he saw me steal the keychain. I’m looking at this guy like you have got to be kidding me. he said I have cameras. I told him okay check the cameras. he didn’t check and he keep yelling saying she took the keychain. then he tired to sell me some stamps like nothing had happened. WHAT? The owner apologized and said he was sorry for the mishap then he basically told me that they are good and bad people in this area so he doesn’t know who is who. Yeah Right.

Above and beyond service! The guy went to the trouble to cut some size off my box and repack my item to save me on shipping. Thats how you earn someones loyalty.

It’s so refreshing to have a local store in a bustling downtown area.

Affordable, and great location. I wish they’d have an earlier pickup around 8am, instead of 9am, so I could pickup before work. The store looks a bit unorganized with a hodgepodge of random services, but they get it all done!

This place is awesome! Staff is nice and knowledgable. Good small biz feel.
I got my passport photo taken here. Cost nothing and it took only two mins.

Thank you lovely people saving me a year or two of my life in the post office line next door!

I love Private mailbox! Superb customer service, awesome friendly workers and I love the vibe and aura from the place!

I’ve been here twice and they WOWED me both times!
The first time, I needed a box for something I was going to mail, the guy packaged my item very well and gave me helpful advice about shipping via US post!
The 2^nd time, I needed to mail a heavy box to a client. They went over all my taping mistakes and pointed out some shipping options I was not aware of… these folks really know customer service!
So awesome, I tipped and plan on coming back!

I searched! Both online and in person! And when I got to 484, I knew this was my new addy! Super friendly service, informative, and so convenient off the freeway, I actually prefer receiving packages and mail more here than at home. If you’re looking for a community feel, this is your spot. It’s just good vibes and I’m stoked to have an easy, long term, solid address. Big thank you to Private Mailbox and General Store!

I’ve used this place for 6 years and I have never been disappointed. No it’s not fancy, it’s pretty funky in fact but the service is great – the guy even read me the label info the day I left my glasses at home! My passport photo actually looks like me, the keys he made worked the first time, my faxes get sent without having to re-​try 5 times and all my packages have gotten shipped on time without any fuss, even during peak Xmas crunch time. This is a neighborhood jewel and I hope they never ever sell to anyone else!

Funky little spot, but convenient to my house near the lake, after having a couple packages disappear of my front stoop, I started using these guys for deliveries and shipments. I pay a yearly fee (20 $) then 2 $ per package (as of 2013). since I do not have a mailbox with them this is a pretty great feature. When my package is there they call my cell, it is that easy.

I had to return some rental textbooks. I’ve done this at least four times before, but I’ve always dropped off at the UPS store on Piedmont. I did the same thing as I always do: packed up the books, printed the label, and taped the label to the outside of the box. I dropped them off on Wednesday, December 19^th. They SHIPPED one of the boxes on December 28^th, and as of today (the 29^th) the other one is still not out for shipment. What the hell? I’ve now been charged an overdue cost for the lateness of the books. All of the other times when I dropped boxes off at the UPS store on Piedmont, the packages went out within 24 hours (which is what matters in terms of the due dates, not when the company actually receives them). I will go back to using the Piedmont store from now on.
Two stars only because the guy behind the counter was smiling and friendly.

Love this place. Yeah their a Lil slow but that’s ok if your getting great service.

Amazingly awesome and helpful. I read the few bad reviews and can’t IMAGINE these things ever happening there. These guys do everything — I mean, everything. Passport photos, notary, scanning, shipping, printing, etc. I had their full attention for a full 45m minutes getting all my stuff taken care of in one place by the owner. Before I left he didn’t just give me a receipt for all the packages with the tracking numbers. He had taken the time to write the names of the recipients on each receipt as well, so that I could make sense of the tracking numbers. The owner also noticed that I wasn’t 100% sure of an address, so he gave me his business card and told me to call him by Monday at 10. He would hold the package in the cage until I was sure, if change it if I found a new address. So cool. Sorry about the other folks-i’m guessing it was a crummy employee.

My Box:
I have had a box here for just about 2 years, and I love it! Laura is the best, and always has a treat for my dog Bindi. Lee and the other guys in the outgoing area (sorry I don’t know everyone’s name) are also friendly, give great honest service, and are extremely helpful. I am always calling to see if a package is in.
They receive packages unlike the USPS, and in my estimation are affordable, especially considering UPS doesn’t even attempt to deliver my packages at my home, and always just puts the slip on my door. I live around 20 minutes from the pickup location, so Private Mailbox was the only practical solution. I actually save money, considering the extensive shopping i do online.
A shipping story:
I did some research and found that my package was 1 inch above a cutoff point, and subsequently cost an extra 80 dollars to ship. Lee put in the measurements just under the cutoff and saved me an incredible amount of money. Real people, real service.

I’ve lived in the neighborhood for over 6 years now and would NEVER go anywhere else (including the Post Office right next door) for my shipping needs.
The staff and customer service is very friendly and honest. Exactly what makes the Lake Merritt district such a great place to shop, eat etc. I especially love supporting the local family owned business’ in the area.
They even copy keys and other great services that you wouldn’t find available at UPS, FedEx or the post office.

Great service, good folks, straightforward. Many times I’ve found myself skipping right over the post office (literally next door) and going straight to Private Mailbox and General Store for shipping (both FedEx AND UPS!), envelopes, shipping prep (like packaging boxes, frames, etc.) and even stamps (there’s an added cost to those, but with that ridiculous line at the post office, if I need 10 stamps and I have to pay 20 cents extra, I’m not going to cry about it.
They also have a fun selection of birthday cards and local Oakland and Lake Merritt greeting cards which are great to send off with packages. A little Oakland flavor — love that.
They also do notary services, have priviate mailboxes (like a PO box, but there’s always someone there to sign for packages), sell lottery tickets, batteries (which has saved my butt on more than one occasion) and even have a copy machine. They’re a one-​stop shop!