I just wanted to clarify that if you have a package sent to FedEx, hold for pick up, it must be sent via FedEx. Sounds logical, but there are people who will try to send packages or letters to FedEx by US mail, Airborne, UPS, etc. They will just be refused by the terminal if it’s not addressed to an employee. If you want to use the service, you have to pay for it. Also, FedEx has no way of proving that you received the package if it does not have a FedEx tracking number on it. There are legal issues that could ensue from this.
General delivery through the Post Office is probably the way to go if he is mailing you something and you don’t have a PMB.
Well…
I know you asked specifically about getting a package delivered (and I promise I’ll get to that) but I can’t resist offering unasked for advice. It seems to me that many “oh my God why did I ever to business with this moron/idiot/crook/psycho” stories begin with someone who said “well, I know he’s a moron/idiot/crook/psycho and my friend had a bad experience working with him, but the work is easy and the pay is good.” Also, I am assuming that your client is not asking you to do anything illegal, or to participate in some kind of illegal or crooked scheme. Just to be very clear, I’m not accusing you of that. But I do think you should consider whether there is time in your schedule and your life to deal with this person.
With all that out of the way, I vote for the p.o. box. as the best way to “insulate” you from weird client.
Not knowing the details (which you are understandably reluctant to go into) I can only speculate, but I am just wondering how weird client is going to react if you tell him, “hey, just send it to me general delivery at my local post office.” Assuming that he is a weird, control-freak kind of person, I suspect he will say “what? why don’t you just give me your address? I need to get this to you quickly, I don’t have time to screw around with genderal delivery.” What exactly are you going to say then?
On the other hand, if you tell weird client, “just send it to my address with is blah blah blah street, suite 245, blah blah blah,” then that is that, and there’s nothing to discuss. These day you do (almost always) have to show ID with your home address on it when you get a P.O.Box at Mail Boxes Etc. (or wherever) but so what? That doesn’t mean they will turn over your address to anyone that asks.
I have heard vague rumblings that you used to be able to list P.O. Box #24 as “Suite 24” and that you are not supposed to do that anymore. But when I asked the guy at my local mail box place, he said they don’t care. If mail comes in addressed to a suite number rather than a P.O. Box number, they will still deliver it to you.
If you’re very worried about cost, you could also just rent the box for month, and then cancel it.
You can just say that you’ve had a lot of problems with packages being delivered to your home and/or office due to lack of someone to sign, lack of place to leave the package, or because it’s hard to find. My last house was in an alleyway, not visible from the street my address was on, and I really had a hell of a time getting packages delivered. I usually ended up going to the UPS or FedEx holding center and picking them up myself. General Delivery would have been a good solution.