More and more Americans are getting packages delivered to their homes — and not just during the holidays. According to Amazon, for its 2018 Amazon Prime Day, held July 16, more than 100 million products were sold on their website.
But the holiday season is still the busiest time for package delivery. The U.S. Postal Service expects to deliver more than 900 million packages this year between Thanksgiving and Christmas, and many of those will be left on our front porches. This means plenty of opportunities for “porch pirates” to come swipe our holiday gifts!
A porch pirate is someone who steals packages delivered to people’s porches. This most commonly happens when the homeowner isn’t home when the package was delivered. It takes mere seconds for these pirates to steal.
Luckily, there are options to protect your packages. We’ve rounded up a few possibilities for you to prevent these pesky porch pirates from stealing your goods.
We’ve also included the NewHomeSource holiday playlist at the end of the article, so you can enjoy all the fun holiday vibes!
Landport
If you’re looking for a secure chest for your parcels, then a Landport lockbox (starting at $599) is right for you. These high-tech boxes can be bolted down to your front porch, whether your front porch is made of concrete, wood or asphalt. The Landport features an electronic keypad where the delivery driver can enter a unique access code to open the chest.
Package Guard
It looks like a frisbee, but the Package Guard will notify you via an app notification or by text message when a package is placed or removed from your porch. If a porch pirate removes a package from the Package Guard, an alarm will sound. If you’re getting multiple packages, the Package Guard can hold up to 100 pounds.
Amazon Locker
Amazon has taken additional steps to ensure your packages from their website are safe by implementing Amazon Locker. All you need to do is find a Locker near you, add it to your Amazon address book, then during checkout, select the Locker as your shipping address. Once your package is delivered, Amazon will send you a six-digit code to use to unlock your Amazon Locker and pick up your package. The best part is there is no additional cost to use these lockers! Amazon Prime users continue to receive free two-day shipping on all orders.
The Elephantrunk
It looks just like a mailbox, but it a lot safer for your packages! The Elephantrunk parcel drop can hold multiple packages and has a partition for outbound shipments. The parcel drop has a three-point locking system and is bolted to the ground to prevent theft.
Doorman App
Want to skip buying a mailbox or having to travel to a storage facility to retrieve your package? The Doorman App is your solution! This app lets you schedule package deliveries from 6 p.m. to midnight throughout the week. It’s perfect for working families who don’t have anyone home during normal business hours.
The Doorman App has payment plans for everyone. A Plus plan is $19 a month for four free delivery visits. They also offer a pay-as-you-go plan so you can choose a la carte. Unfortunately, it is only available in San Francisco, Chicago and New York City as of 2018.
Protecting your packages is important, because not only did you spend a lot of time searching online for the exact things you wanted, but you also spent hard-earned money on them. Make sure to take some extra steps this holiday season, and beyond, to protect your parcels from those awful porch pirates.
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