Digital Doormen

One of the best things about the month of December is the gift-giving associated with the Holidays. One of the worst, is logistics—and specifically, shipping and receiving packages, particularly if you don’t have a driveway or doorman. We’ve rounded up some apps and services that make it a little bit less of a headache.

NEW YORK CITY

Parcel

Operating in Manhattan and much of Brooklyn, Parcel will receive packages in your stead, and, for $5 a pop, deliver them after work, in a one-hour time slot of choice. We like that they started small, with only a handful of trusted employees delivering, and have slowly expanded to accommodate more boroughs, providing great service all the while. They’re giving goop readers a free Parcel delivery: Just enter goop22 at checkout.

SAN FRANCISCO

Doorman

Much like Parcel, Doorman accepts delivery of packages and coordinates bringing them over when you’re around, though they also have a great package tracking app that aggregates the status of all your deliveries and lets you know when they’re ready to be sent your way. Doorman’s services are $3.99 per package, or a monthly unlimited rate of $19 for a 2-hour delivery window, or $29 for a 1-hour delivery window and unlimited returns.

UNITED KINGDOM

Collect Plus

In the UK, this shipping and returns service stores packages at its facilities for you to collect. The vendors you can buy or “click and collect” from are limited but include Amazon, Asos, and John Lewis, which could probably cover most of your shopping needs. We also like that Collect Plus is pretty widespread, meaning that it’s accessible even if you live in a small village way outside of London.

ACROSS THE STATES

UPS Store

UPS stores across the country will receive, hold, and store packages, plus they’ll text you every time a package arrives. It’s a little more hands-on than the others, in that you’ll eventually need to stop by and pick up packages yourself, or have them forwarded. As a bonus though, they will accept packages from a number of mail delivery services, not just their own.

SHIPPING

Shyp

It’s surprising how much time shipping a single package can take, which is exactly what Shyp is out to change. Use the app to take a picture of the object you want to send, and Shyp will fill in the shipping details, set up a pick-up time with you, pack your item according to its needs, and find the cheapest shipment method available. It’s currently available in San Franscisco, Manhattan, Brooklyn, Miami, and Miami Beach. And yes, they do gift wrapping, too.