Seems that oft touted phrase “We have an office right here in Hong Kong” is not always strictly true these days!
Businesses who want a global or interstate presence are increasingly opting to use services that provide post box locations internationally or interstate. These services, also known as commercial mail receiving agencies (CMRAs) or mail drop services, provide an alternative to the expenses of setting up offshore offices or bricks and mortar outlets (even in Hong Kong!). They operate autonomously so they’re also generally able to send and receive items that may not be covered by the local official postal system.
There are many reasons why having international or interstate post box locations are an advantage for businesses – local contact for existing and potential customers / clients / business partners, more up-market public image, better mailing rates, security and privacy, convenience, cost effective, efficiency, capacity etc. A mail drop service address can also be used as the ‘registered office’ for company incorporation; traditionally it’s common practice to use either the company auditor or lawyer’s address for this purpose.
Some CMRAs also offer a host of complementary services with the account like access to mail over the internet, a dedicated phone or fax line, fax and email services and so on. The way most of them work is that they receive the mail / parcels / emails etc and then either forward it on to clients or hold it until the client can collect it if they’re local. They can also arrange to scan mail and email it on or load it onto a shared server for clients to access at their convenience, send and receive faxes as well as provide a re mailing service for bulk postage that requires a return address in that country or state.
So there’s plenty of good reasons to set up an offshore mailing address and if that mythical office over there in Hong Kong doesn’t tempt you, maybe one right here in Costa Rica TopOffice style does.
