This place is what makes a locally owned business add so richly to the local community- excellent customer service, beautiful products, we got all our life documents notarized here and they are all smart and lovely human beings. I would support a family owned business over a franchise any day... and you should too. read more

Has to be the friendliest business in Ballard - I've shipped numerous things from The Mailbox and they've always been eminently helpful, clear about the options and pricing, and pleasant to chat with. They have a great selection of cards and gifts, which is helpful for those moments when you realize you want (or need!) to commemorate something as you're on your way home. read more

I love going here. The staff are all very friendly and professional. I've used them many times and they never fail to provide great service. They are quick, pleasant and extremely helpful. read more

Mailbox Ballard is the best place to ship packages in the neighborhood. The people that work there are very friendly and helpful, especially Andy! read more

I love this place! I feel like I'm here at least once a week for something whether it be shipping a package or picking up a card or a last minute gift. Everyone is friendly and really knowledgeable- about shipping, yes, but also other random things like how to label your passport application to ensure it gets to the right place, or how best to wrap and ship, say, a guitar pedal your husband sold online. Andy and his staff always go the extra mile for their customers. The Mailbox Ballard is a great asset to our community and help keep that local "know your neighbors" vibe alive. read more

Another perfect service. Two, in fact. The Mailbox and Business Service Center hands down beats the UPS store every time. One third to one-quarter of the price--literally. A lot of options to ship at this store, again at a fraction of what the UPS store is charging. You gotta admit, it does feel good supporting the local, small business owner over the big conglomerates. It's a good feeling, especially when their rates and service are much better than the UPS store. It's just a fact. Although it's out of my way some five miles, I know the job will be done right and at a good price and smartly, too--not just smart, like intelligent, but they move smartly--efficiently and quickly. You just can't beat that. You can try, but--you won't. Especially when they have about ten kinds of home-made chocolates on the counter. read more

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I don't leave many negative reviews. Have utilized this shop for over 20 years since I lived about 2 blocks away. Especially under previous owner who was of course awesome. Had a picture of one of my dogs on the wall of fame and used to enjoy her holiday grog. :-) Recent life changes have brought a move, but have continued to buy stamps, mailed packages, notary services, etc. And fwiw bought hot sauce, cards whatever. Had 3 bottles of wine delivered there recently due to the need to sign requirement. I don't have a PO Box but considered myself a loyal, local customer. Was informed by an employee that I was not allowed to have wine delivered there since I don't have a mailbox (or they would open the box??). Not quite rude, definitely snarky, and completely unexpected. I've always bragged on this neighborhood and the local businesses. Quite a wake up. AND...then they charged me $5.50 for handling my delivery. I would have been ok with that if it was explained nicely, but not so much "f*ck off we don't want your business." Owner - I think - has always been pleasant but wow. Good luck guys. read more

I have been coming here since this business opened in 1996. I know the owners have changed etc. I have ALWAYS received exceptional care with my dealings here and my packaging/shipping of items. I want to let the owner, Andy, no that today your guy working the desk, male about 55. This guy's care and detail is EXACTLY why I continue to ship via your place. I was shipping an acoustic guitar. Awkward measurements, etc. and it means a lot to me sentimentally. Your guy took all kinds of effort to 'Frankenbox' a mish mash of boxes, and carefully secure my guitar, while also avoiding the easier route of just blowing up my cost with other box options! This is amazing personal caring customer service!! Thank you all at the this business for what you do! Best wishes in 2023 for you all. read more

Cannot recommend the mailbox enough. I don't have a home printer, so have gone there many times to get documents printed. They are always very friendly and efficient. You can email them your stuff, then arrive and have it printed. You can also get documents scanned and emailed to yourself as PDFs. I've also gotten passport photos here. There's a fun assortment of little gifts including lots of hilarious magnets, tea towels, candles, purses and more. So if you have a last minute house warming gift to grab or something this is the place. Dog friendly too. Great place for all of your printing, mailing, passport photo and random tchotchkes needs! read more

the Mailbox Ballard is great - I've shipped dozens of packages with them and they've always arrived safe and on time - staff is friendly, helpful and communicative. Highly recommend! read more

Came in for passport photos, left with a couple cards I didn't need but really wonderful service and so grateful for such a nice place in our neighborhood read more

These folks are fantastic. Nice. More knowledgeable about post than you'd think possible.

Friendly, knowledgeable staff! Also a nice selection of cards and gifts, including work by local artisans. If you have something fragile and complicated to ship, they can pack it for you, which has saved me time on many occasions. I'm a fan! read more

Always super friendly and helpful. Yelp needs to start sunsetting reviews as this business unfairly has a sub 4 rating based on negative reviews 5+ years old. read more

Fantastic little store where they are so friendly and helpful with whatever you need. So nice to have them so close by. Please don't let this business be ignored or washed away. Also they give little treats to dogs which is so nice read more

I've always received friendly efficient service here. And they have some nice random gifts and chocolate to browse through. read more

The Mailbox Ballard - Follow the rainbow to The Mailbox - Notaries Near Me - Seattle, Washington

Love this place. I have been using this for a mailbox and to receive packages for 22 years. I'm sure I wrote a review back when Ferrol owned it and I'm finally getting around to reviewing the new owners. I get a lot of packages - still great service ("can I help you carry that out") and they love dogs. (big points). They also don't seem to mind that I like to chat (also big points) Really fun local stuff for sale too. update: When I opened this to make this review, past reviews came up I saw Barrie B's and was curious so I read it. So, here's what I don't understand. These guys get hundreds of packages. Why would they chose this one to "steal" and if they were doing this on a regular basis, they would be found out. This doesn't make any logical sense. Weird. Anyway. Love this place. read more

This place is wonderful - friendly, always have the supplies you need to ship something, and super happy to help if something is confusing or missing about your shipping info. Really glad to have this nearby! read more

Thank you - great limitations in place for Covid for a small location. Taken care of quickly and given all my options to ship. Friendly service in a very busy time, I really appreciate their help. Much better than dealing with the lines at the post office! And they have great local products for sale. read more

They are always helpful and friendly here. In addition to all mail related services and supplies, they have a delightful assortment of local products. Mustard, jam, caramels, tea towels, and the like can be purchased here to round out that gift you are mailing. read more

This is a great little shop. So much friendlier, easier, and faster than the post office. It costs a small premium to ship with them but it's totally worth it. read more

I would give The Mailbox Ballard 10 stars if I could. They are the ONLY place I trust to send packages. The team there is so knowledgeable.

Great service. Convenient. Quick. Friendly. And local.

Well. I usually just go the post office on 17th in Ballard, but figured I would support a local business. I had 2 packages and one envelope to mail. Walked in, and the woman at the counter ignored me for a straight minute while she was talking to a coworker. The coworker was obviously new. That's fine. The new employee was attempting to help me with an address that wasn't in the data base. The aforementioned woman pushes the guy aside, and demands he help another customer behind while rolling her eyes and sighing heavily. She advised me that I should call the person. I showed her the address from the Etsy order I had received. "Yeah, well, it's wrong." Wellllll, if the person who placed the order doesn't know their own address, that's an issue I'll work on later if I have to cross that bridge. As she's attempting to figure out how to apply shipping to my two other packages, she's eavesdropping on the conversation at the other counter. Twice, she interrupts their conversation to condescendingly explain "That's not a question he can answer." "That's not in his line of expertise...HE IS NEW"... "I asked you to give me a moment..."... I was then advised I wouldn't get a tracking # for the package going to the address in question . When I said I would just take it to the post office, I was told "I don't know why you would do that. We use the same data base. They pick up our mail, they'll tell you the same thing." Not an "I'm sorry." Not a "Thank you" when the transaction was finished. I just feel icky. I spent 2x as much $ to support a smaller business in my neighborhood and was treated like crap from the second I walked in the door. I'm just so bummed about it. read more

Went to get passport photos here vs Walgreens, to support a local small business. Staff was personable and professional. Cute little shop with gifts, cards, packing supplies, etc. It wasn't super busy, as I stopped in mid morning. Thanks for the great customer service! read more

used to be a 5-star biz... been using for 25+ yrs. very odd (bad day, Mgr??) treatment today, 5/28: wanted to send card to TX, to arrive within 2 days. charged $70 for UPS 2nd Day Air. was told "UPS cannot and will not guarantee any delivery except for overnight, so it might take 3 or 4 days". why on earth would we pay for 2-day, and it might not get there till twice as long??? called UPS; nice rep explained that was incorrect. called Mailbox, spoke to mgr Andy. he insisted UPS doesn't know what they're talking about, he's had bad experiences w/ UPS reps, "they're not reliable." but....?? called UPS. diff rep said again YES they do guarantee, that yes we should've been charged $48something. big difference. called Mailbox back to say what we heard, and Mgr Andy acted annoyed at us. we both nicely said maybe he needed to update his software & NEVER asked for any $ back. understandably, he said they charge a few bucks more. but this much????? not cool to blame us, and UPS, and the pandemic (!!!). UNTRUE that "all delivery svcs since covid do NOT guarantee delivery dates". Nope, not so. Now we will do it ourselves thru UPS website & drop off. so weird. always loved this place and really appreciated when they brought in more merch. not sure why this happened, but c'mon, Andy and company!!! geez. read more

My wife and I got a box here after a rash of package thefts in our neighborhood. It's super-convenient to get our packages delivered here and pick them up on the way home from work--or not have to worry about deliveries when we go away on vacation. The price for a box is pretty reasonable too. I've seen the other reviews and don't think they're entirely fair. Yes, mailing something here costs more than if you do it at the Post Office or UPS. Guess what? This isn't the Post Office or UPS. This is a business and they have a bit of a markup in order to cover their expenses and make a profit. If you ship from here you're paying for the convenience of doing it from your neighborhood. As for the staff, I've found they're generally friendly and efficient. For the most part, the only unpleasant people I've encountered in this store are customers, not staff. However, if I'm waiting behind another customer and only need to pick up packages, usually whoever is working behind the counter will try to quickly step away and grab my packages so I'm not waiting five minutes for an indecisive person who can't decide which method of shipping they want to use. read more

Five years later and these folks are better than ever. Friendly, fast, accommodating they embody all the good stuff about a local business for me. I use them to ship all kinds of stuff for personal and business needs. read more

So rude, it's laughable. Unapologetic for miscommunication on their end. Make it seem like you owe them something for walking in there and sending a package. Completely unaware of how to do anything customer service related, like say "hello" when you walk in or "have a good day" when you're leaving, which I found to be excusable until they weren't willing to explain why my package wasn't shipped until 2 weeks after being at their office. Then LIED to me saying they couldn't contact me because of a wrong number. You called me to let me know the package was returned, obviously that is BS. At least learn to lie properly. UHhhhh I'm just trying to support this local business. It's sad when a mom and pop shop has a worst attitude than the government system. United States Postal Office, I'm crawling back! read more

They got the job done, but weren't very friendly about it. I told her I wanted things (2 calendars) mailed via priority mail. Perhaps they lose out on charging me for a box etc., but she didn't seem to excited I chose that method. Then she rang me up at $9.40 and gave me the receipt and said "here's the confirmation number". Puzzled, I looked at the receipt as I was exiting and noticed she charged me $0.95 for tracking. Boo. I know it's a measly $0.95, but I was also mailing out measly calendars. Just sayin' It would've been nice if she asked first! Compared to Sip and Ship in Ballard, this place is lacking in the both the quantity of shopping merchandise and customer service. It's next door to the Ballard Academy of Music and Dance, which is where I was for my daughter's ballet lesson. One plus side is that it was super convenient for me (on that day) and they have a corner play area with toys for kids. read more

This place is awesome with service above and beyond any other shipping center I've used. I needed a large box sent to India last month; off it went with an emailed tracking number - and an update when it was delivered which I *love*. I shipped Christmas presents last week ... The staff was crazy efficient and friendly despite the hordes of holiday shippers, offered hot cider, had a ton of cool locally-made products to check out while I waited, and offered to repack my gifts in a smaller box than I had brought them in order to save on postage which sealed the deal for me. I will not wait in line for 20+ minutes at the gloomy post office again for bare-minimum service. I received another notice today that my Christmas presents arrived at their destination - I love that feature! PS: I watched them check out other customers and another cool thing is that they are able to store addresses to which you've sent mail in their computer system - so fast to get a package processed! (again unlike the PO...) PPS: okay, I'm a nerd to be this excited about shipping, but also because they ship for UPS, FEDEX, and the PO, you're pretty much guaranteed to get the lowest price of all options which I find very helpful. And they gift wrap. :::swoon::: read more

Walked in today. Wasn't greeted, nor communicated with at all. The lady looks at me and tells me I can't ship my package because the box I got it in couldn't be shipped back in the same box that it came in. How is this possible? I went to the post office and mailed it within 5 minutes or less. Come on. read more

Under new ownership and the new owners are helpful and friendly. Great spot to ship, etc

I like this place. The gifts and cards are cute and I have always received warm regards from employees read more

We went to take passport pictures for our daughter , we chooses the one on screen that looked the most appropriate , once printed they were blurry, we asked to take new pictures and this is what we got for an answer : i don't think they are blurry ..I don't want to take any new pictures and print them out for you to tell me that they are blurry again. We had to leave . read more

Had a great experience there today! I needed a passport photo to renew my passport. I went in with all my paperwork and not only did the gentleman take and process my passport photo, but he helped package up all the paperwork in an envelope - he knew exactly where it needed to go - all the details etc. It was like having someone manage my passport renewal for me! Great service and nice little shop. This will definitely be my first stop instead of the post office any time in the future. And it doesn't hurt that it is right across the street from the great Larsen's bakery :)! Support two local businesses in one stop! read more

Under new management/ownership- they are friendly and professional. I am an artist and need to be sure the paintings I ship are handled with care and professionally packaged. The new management is doing a great job. I am so glad they provide such good service! read more

Went there once and received rude service. My wife went there a few weeks later to give them a second chance. Same result. Seemed to be inconveniencing the staff by paying money to ship something. read more

Great new ownership, super helpful and friendly. A great place to go if you need to grab a quick local gift and get it sent off easy. I've had a mailbox here for years and it's a favorite local spot! read more

Unfortunately I have to agree with the others who had bad experiences here. Not once have I received a cheerful greeting or a kind thank you. Everybody acts like you're a) inconveniencing them for even stepping foot inside the business, b) a complete imbecile if you have a question, and c) a potential shoplifter if you happen to be browsing. I love supporting small local businesses but after 3-4 visits here I'm done. read more