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My two cents: don’t optimize for cheap, optimize for longevity. Once your address is out there and in the hands of others, you don’t want your provider to go out of business (which they frequently do).

(I use one of the providers not recommended “due to cost”)

In an ideal world, absolutely! But it's impossible to tell unless you personally know someone who can provide evidence. A couple of examples...

PostScan Mail - claims it started in 2012: https://www.postscanmail.com/about.html , which corroborates with their Android app https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.postscanma... and Internet Archive https://web.archive.org/web/20250000000000*/https://www.post...

Escapees - claim to be the oldest, having started in '85. But their Android app was released in 2018: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.companynam..., the iOS app owner is different brand and the copyright on that listing says the company started in '95: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/escapees-mail-service/id161252.... Domain was only bought less than 2 years ago: https://whois.domaintools.com/escapeesmailservice.com

So, should you choose Escapees based on what they claim on their site?

As an aside, I used to analyze insurance companies' creditworthiness, and saw how they played the branding game because people cared about longevity.

Fair. I will provide a reference for St Brendan's Isle. It is a locally/family owned business that caters primarily to cruisers (sailors), van life, etc. Their customer base is somewhat inherently sticky compared to transient business customers of other po box services. I cannot guarantee they will be in business forever, but I am prepared to purchase the business and continue to operate at, even at a reasonable loss, in the event the current owners encounter operational challenges. I consider them a utility.

I find their envelope and content scan quotas to be very reasonable, and have never exceeded them; they process all of my personal/family/business mail. They were also friendly when I inquired about writing code to wrap around their website UX to automate certain workflows.

https://www.sbimailservice.com/mail-scan-pro/

(no affiliation besides being a customer, I am just an internet rando)

Good to know, I've noticed quite a few recommending them on Reddit. But you have to be careful these days because that's gamed too.

Thanks for the convo btw! Got me reminiscing about my days in insurance.

Would love to read a blog post about your work in insurance!