What's the deal with parcel delivery boxes!? Thoughts after nearly a year of use

I realized it's been two years since I moved. I bought this house with the intention of moving again in five years, but I'm starting to wonder if I'll really move in three more years. That also depends on the market prices of properties that come up, though.
This is Usausami.

My current home is the most remote place I've ever lived, including my parents' house, so I rely on online shopping for almost everything except what I can get at supermarkets, drugstores, and home centers. I'm incredibly grateful to the delivery drivers.

The fact that the amount of cardboard I throw away has decreased significantly compared to a while ago isn't necessarily because I'm shopping online less, but rather because I've stocked up on things and don't need to buy as much anymore.

By the way, how many people in society actually use parcel delivery boxes?

That seems to be the situation as of last year. That said, there's likely a significant difference depending on the location. While these types of surveys often break things down by age group, they surprisingly rarely break them down by region. I think the correlation with the number of nearby commercial facilities is more important, but I suppose it's hard for external research companies to produce statistics on that.
I'd love to see the numbers for each branch office that the delivery companies must have.

The size of the parcel delivery box Usausami uses

I use a 'Brizebox V2' where the entrance and exit for letters and packages are the same. The difference from the old model is that the V2 can be reconfigured so that the retrieval opening is at the back.

For those who are certain they need to retrieve from the front due to the installation location, either the old model or the V2, whichever is cheaper, might be fine.
More details here ▼

It's a used house, but there was no mailbox to begin with. I was looking for a mailbox and found this. Since it was a prerequisite that it be a mailbox, it's great that letters and packages go in together so I can check them at once.

Since it's installed diagonally in front of the entrance door (there was originally a tiny flower bed, so I had it installed there and filled with concrete), delivery people put items in from the front of the entrance. However, since I retrieve them from the back door, I can take them out without having to open the door and walk around. It's incredibly convenient, especially when it's raining, because I can check it without getting wet due to the position relative to the eaves.

Also, since I basically get around by bicycle, I don't use it for perishables, but if I buy detergent at a drugstore and then go to a supermarket, I'll just drop things in there and head to the next place. It's easier than opening the front door.

I have the smallest one on the left, installed with a pole just like in the illustration below. It's easy to see because of the height of the retrieval area, and I feel like I'm glad I chose this one.

During the consideration phase, I thought about buying the large size in the middle, but after a year of using a 100-yen trash can as a mailbox, I realized, 'Doesn't it not need to be that big?' In the end, this size was just right.

Because of the structure where things put in from this drawer drop down to the bottom, you can only fit items that are effectively half the size of the box. It might look small when three are lined up, but the one below is the same smallest size as mine, and it's actually bigger than you'd think.

It fits Letter Packs and A4 envelopes (though they sometimes get caught), and Amazon cardboard envelopes fit easily too. As for boxes, this is about the size that isn't difficult to retrieve.

That said, the mineral water I usually buy in 9-packs of 2L bottles is heavy to begin with, so I always set those for face-to-face delivery because I want them placed on a Muji flat dolly that I keep right inside the entrance. However, most other things I buy are smaller than this box, so
I'm able to receive over 90% of my deliveries in the box.

Maybe it's because I only buy rice in 2kg bags, which I always get from Amazon, but it fits in the delivery box just fine, and honestly, it has plenty of room for that much.

I feel like if a thick package is already delivered, the internal flap might get caught when trying to open it, but if the items are about 5–10cm thick, they can still fit even if they come from different delivery companies on the same day, so sometimes I get two packages of that thickness in there. It's great that it can handle multiple items like that. And most of the things I, Usatosan, buy are this size anyway.

For irregular items like ceiling lights or furniture I've bought, I just think, why not have those delivered face-to-face?

On a side note, as a personal preference, if it's just a small package of miscellaneous goods that's barely larger than a Letter Pack or Pos Packet, I'm fine with it being put in the mailbox and marked as delivered, but
things that are too big to fit are usually expensive, heavy, or precision equipment, so I'd actually prefer to receive those directly.
Especially if it's heavy, I'd rather have it brought inside the entrance, right?
For people like that, I think this size is actually just right. Though, if there are four people in the house ordering packages all the time, it might not be enough, so I do think it could be one size larger.

Instead, I make sure to create user accounts with each delivery company and schedule deliveries only for days when I'm definitely home.

Also, as I wrote in my previous article, I made a custom magnet (▼) and stuck it on.

It seems like most people in the world would rather have their package left at the door if it doesn't fit in the delivery box, and while you can't really buy a "face-to-face if it doesn't fit" magnet in stores, if you want them to leave it, you should just write that down. And if you're like me, Usatosan, and really hate the idea of your package being left on the ground or outside even if it's in a cardboard box, you should just display that clearly.
Because things have become quite fuzzy due to COVID and labor shortages at delivery companies, I think you should make your intentions clear.
If you put yourself in the delivery person's shoes, if it's written down, they can just follow the instructions, but if it's not, it just confuses them.

What type of delivery box is best?

If you're going to use it for a long time, I feel like the simplest shape is probably best. I avoided digital ones because they're expensive and seem like they'd have a shorter lifespan.
That said, I do wonder if my mechanical one might not last as long compared to even simpler structures.

Cheap items made with skimped materials might not last, but if the material is the same, I feel like the cheaper one without weird gimmicks would last longer lol.
Looking at the neighborhood, I still see mailboxes of this shape that sell for around 3,000 yen,

and I feel like I still see 50-year-old ones. They are so incredibly simple that there's really nothing to break unless the building they're attached to collapses and they fall from above.

If you hate replacing things frequently and want to use it for as long as you live there, I think something like a small locker with a key plus a little extra is the safer bet.

Something like this, apparently you can put things in from the top, and it holds a decent amount, so if you're installing it later and have a large family receiving a lot of packages, I think this type is better.
If you put things in from the top and stack them, I worry that heavy items might crush what's underneath, but if you buy clothes online, they're light even if the cardboard box is large, so I thought this would be good regardless of how many people live there.

It's true that the size depends on your family structure and what you buy.
But while it's true that bigger is better, I think it's tough to take out things that are too big and heavy, so rather than worrying about not being able to fit something larger, I think it's actually better to keep it smaller, based on your own arm strength and body size.
It's not just a matter of letting the delivery company carry the heavy stuff; if you bought a box that fits water, and they put it in the box you installed later, can you even get both hands in there? And won't you hurt your backtrying to pull it out awkwardly from a position close to the ground? People with strong arms who are totally fine with it are one thing.
You could set those to face-to-face, but if you forget to set it, they'll put it in if it fits.
If you have them bring heavy, large items inside the entrance at least, you can carry the contents in little by little. That's what I think.

Also, as another factor, there are services that allow you to ship items from a combination-lock delivery box. If you sell a lot on Mercari and the shipping office is far away, that would certainly be easy.

If you have a lot of things to ship, that might indeed be convenient.

Do I not need to keep a stamp in there?

My real name isn't one that you'd find on a generic pre-made stamp.
If it were a more common name, I might keep a self-inking stamp in the delivery box, but if it gets lost, it takes one or two weeks to have a new one made, and because it's a name not found on generic stamps, I don't really want to let people use it freely.

So, I don't keep a stamp in the delivery box.
Even so, I'm able to receive almost everything even when I'm out and it's a surprise delivery, so I think it's fine.

Articles by people who installed them earlier often say to attach a chain to your personal seal, but as someone who installed one around the end of last year, I personally think, 'Do we really need to keep a seal out there?' Recently, even if I don't set it to 'leave at door' and it's a hand-delivery, there are more cases where they don't even ask for a seal when they ring the doorbell.

With the 2024 logistics issue, I think most companies are generally moving toward abolishing the need for seals.

Amazon packages are put in the delivery box by any courier without asking, and while I feel like Sagawa rings the bell and then uses the stamp I keep at the door, Yamato—perhaps only for Amazon and Mercari—leaves packages without a seal. At first, I was confused because I'd find both the package and an absence notice, but I think the regulation for delivery boxes with PIN codes is that if there's no receipt seal, they put an absence notice with the PIN code in the letter mailbox. (In my case, the letter and package slots are the same, and the delivery person doesn't set a PIN code, so it was a complete mystery why I got the notice.)

Electronics retailers' own delivery services seem to require a seal even for cheap miscellaneous goods. In fact, one retailer I use often got lost the other day and called me twice on the same day; I was so worried by how lost they were that I actually wished they would just hand it to me in person, but since I only use them occasionally, I guess it's fine (lol).

In the near future, it seems like we'll reach a point where no seal is required as long as there's no money exchange, it's prepaid, and it's not insured. If you really want hand-delivery, it seems like it will become a matter of choosing cash-on-delivery or payment upon arrival.

Are you glad you have a delivery box?

Living in my current location and relying quite a bit on online shopping, I think it's better to have one.

Since moving to my current home, I've had couriers coming by constantly and no mailbox, so I was getting rung at all the time for a year, which made me less resistant to receiving things directly. But when I think about it, the main reason I would choose non-standard mail or mail-bin delivery when available wasn't the shipping cost, but because receiving things was a hassle.

It's convenient that the range of options has expanded, and now I can just receive small packages directly in the mailbox.